LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

SAN  D1CCO 


THE 

GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL 

An  Institute  of  Christian  Sociology 


BY 

EDWARD  A.  WAEEINEB 
.£>- 

Author  of  "  Kear,"  "  1  Am  That  I  Am,"  Etc. 


"  And  the  multitude  of  them  that  believed  were  of  one  heart 
and  one  soul ;  neither  said  any  of  them  that  aught  of  the  things 
he  possessed  was  his  own,  but  they  had  all  things  common." — 
Actsiv:  32. 


NEW  YORK 
THOMAS    WHITTAKER 

2  AND  3  BIBLE  HOUSE 
1898 


for  tbe  Hutbor 


COPYRIGHT  1898 

BY 
EDWARD  A.  WARRINER 


THE  CAXTON  PRESS 
171  MACDOUGAL  ST.,  NEW  YORK 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

SPECULATIVE  PROLOGUE — SUBSTANCE,  NATURE,  AND 
AET  .  1 


BOOK  FIRST 

SOCIALISTIC    IDEAS 

PROLOGUE — Sociality  and  Selfishness 29 

PAST  I — The  Socialistic  Idea  of  Religion 38 

PART  II — The  Socialistic  Idea  of  the  Temple  ....  51 

PART  III— The  Socialistic  Idea  of  the  Church  .  84 


BOOK  SECOND 

THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL 

PROLOGUE— Gates 113 

PART  I— The  Gospel  of  Liberty 119 

PART  II— The  Gospel  of  Equality 134 

PART  III— The  Gospel  of  Fraternity 151 


BOOK  THIRD 

SOCIAL    PROBLEMS 

PROLOGUE — Human  Parasites 169 

PART  I— The  Problem  of  the  Moth 180 

PART  II— The  Problem  of  the  Rust 197 

PART  III— The  Problem  of  the  Thief 212 

3 


4  CONTENTS 

BOOK  FOURTH 

APPLIED  CHRISTIANITY 

PROLOGUE — Paradox,  Parable,  and  Miracle  ....  231 

PART  I— Applied  Faith 243 

PART  II— Applied  Hope 281 

PART  III— Applied  Charity 305 


SPECULATIVE  PROLOGUE. 


SUBSTANCE,  NATURE,  AND  ART. 


SPECULATIVE  philosophy,  whereby  the  true 
and  ultimate  principles  and  possibilities  of  our 
being  may  be  accurately  defined,  and  when 
practically  applied  may  be  realized  in  the  out- 
ward and  visible  conditions  of  our  social  life — 
although  in  times  past  held  in  very  high  esteem 
— has  in  the  present  generation  fallen  into  dis- 
repute. This  depreciation  has  been  brought 
about  in  part  by  limiting  its  use  to  the  develop- 
ment of  what  is  called  natural  science,  the 
truths  of  whose  theories  may  be,  and  to  a  great 
extent  have  been,  positively  demonstrated  and 
utilized  by  experiment,  but  chiefly  by  great  in- 
crease in  material  riches,  whereby  naturally, 
and  in  a  measure  necessarily,  most  men  have 
become  unduly  devoted  to  their  culture  and 
acquisition.  Yet  even  now  it  is  not,  and  can 
1 


2          THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

never  be,  wholly  ignored,  it  being  manifestly 
true  that  every  social  institution,  whether  of 
religion,  politics,  science,  or  art,  before  it  could 
have  become  articulate  in  words  or  other  visible 
expressions,  must  have  been  first  speculatively 
conceived  of  and  developed  in  the  human  mind. 
Its  spirit  is  prophetic,  and  to  discern  what  the 
true  principles  of  our  being  are,  to  define  our 
possibilities,  and  to  forecast  that  which  may, 
will,  or  ought  to  be,  are  its  gifts  and  powers. 
Indeed,  it  is  quite  certain  that  no  improvement 
or  progress  is  possible  that  is  not  first  ideally 
or  spiritually  conceived  of  and  prophetically 
heralded.  That  is,  except  theory  precede  prac- 
tice, practice  is  impossible---liowbeit  that  theory 
without  practice  is  but  idle  dreaming.  Thus 
before  the  coming  of  the  Christ  the  idea  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God  on  earth — of  a  social  condi- 
tion of  peace  and  brotherhood — was  merely 
speculative,  a  pure  idealism,  conceived  of  in 
the  spirit  of  prophecy.  The  theory  of  gravita- 
tion, suggested  to  Newton's  mind  by  the  falling 
of  an  apple  to  the  ground,  could  not  have  be- 
come an  institute  of  science,  had  it  not  first 
been  mentally  elaborated.  Nor  could  any  con- 
stitutional system  of  government  have  been 
practically  realized,  had  not  the  founders  thereof 
theoretically  discerned  its  principles  and  defined 


SUBSTANCE,    NATURE,   AND   ART.  3 

them  iii  its  written  constitution.  In  short, 
every  invention,  discovery,  structure,  or  crea- 
tion of  human  or  divine  art,  must  have  been 
subjectively  discerned  before  it  could  have  been 
objectively  realized. 

But,  as  we  have  indicated,  idealism — walking 
by  faith  and  not  by  sight  (2  Cor.  5 :  7),  which 
studies  the  evidences  of  things  unseen  (Heb. 
11 :  1)  that  it  may  develop  better  outward  con- 
ditions of  life,  may  be  so  limited  and  applied  to 
the  development  of  material  interests  as  to  be- 
come merely  sensual  in  character — so  sensual 
in  fact  that  the  higher  interests  of  our  social 
and  spiritual  nature  may  come  to  be  regarded 
as  of  little  or  no  importance.  Hence,  when  we 
say  that  speculative  philosophy  has  fallen  into 
disrepute,  we  do  not  mean  that  it  has  ceased  to 
exist — for  that  is  impossible  even  in  a  condition 
of  perfect  savagery,  the  faculty  of  idealization 
being  innate  in  human  nature — but  that  in  this 
age,  in  which  men  have  come  to  think  they  live 
by  bread  alone,  it  is  limited,  debased,  and  per- 
verted to  merely  sensual  uses  in  the  conditions 
of  time  and  space — in  which  case  our  higher  and 
limitless  possibilities  of  social  and  spiritual  im- 
provement are  at  the  best  but  dimly  discerned, 
and  often  deemed  impossible  of  realization. 
Necessarily  in  our  imperfection  we  see  through 


4  .       THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

a  glass  darkly,  and  when  heavenly  ideals  are 
presented  to  our  minds  they  seem  shadowy  and 
unreal,  and  we  are  little  conscious  of  their 
prophetic  character — of  the  promises  and  op- 
portunities presented  therein  of  increase  in  the 
riches  of  life,  wisdom,  and  power. 

We  have  entitled  this  work  "  An  Institute 
of  Christian  Sociology."  We  believe  our  Chris- 
tian faith  to  be  an  idealistic  conception  of  in- 
spired prophecy  of  a  social  condition  of  uni- 
versal peace  and  brotherhood,  originally  and 
practically  applied  by  Jesus  the  Christ  in  the 
establishment  of  his  Church.  We  are  not  seek- 
ing to  develop  a  new  and  original  theory  of  our 
own,  but  rather  to  define  and  apply  one  that 
has  already  been  partially  developed,  but  in 
this  materialistic  age  is  but  dimly  discerned. 
Although  its  principles  as  illustrated  in  the 
Old  and  New  Testament  Scriptures  are  still  re- 
tained in  the  congregations  of  the  Church,  con- 
gregations still  professedly  Christian,  they  are 
but  little  understood  or  practiced. 

The  requisite  to  a  clear  understanding  of 
Christian  Sociology  is  an  accurate  definition, 
first,  of  its  primary  principles  of  which  it  is 
predicated,  as  is  that  also  of  every  other  useful 
and  lasting  institution  ;  and  second,  of  the  right 
methods  by  which  such  principles  are  pratically 


SUBSTANCE,   NATURE,   AND   ART.  5 

applied  to  the  solution  of  all  social  problems. 
We  shall  not,  however,  attempt  an  exposition 
of  such  principles  any  farther  than  they  pertain 
to  our  immediate  subject,  or  are  essential  to  the 
discrimination  of  the  theories  of  Christian  soci- 
ology from  others  which  may  apparently  or 
really  be  in  conflict  therewith. 

We  shall,  therefore,  assume  it  to  be  true 
that  GOD  Is — not  a  God ;  for  if  HE  Is,  He  Is  in 
the  fullest  sense  Personal  and  Infinite.  The  I 
AM  (Ex.  3 :  14),  comprehensive  of  all  persons 
and  things,  and  cannot  be  simply  a  being 
among  many  beings,  but  Being  Itself,  the  All 
in  All  (1  Cor.  12 :  6;  15 :  28),  the  To  Be  of  all 
beings,  and  the  To  Do  of  all  creations  and  ac- 
tivities (Acts  17  :  28).  Moreover,  He  is  social 
Being — not  a  social  being,  but  Social  Being 
Itself,  of  whom  and  in  whom  every  being  that 
exists  is  a  social  being.  That  is,  being  the 
One  and  sole  Reality,  all  existing  things  are 
realizations  thereof.  Thus  we  may  reason : 
I  think,  therefore  I  exist;  I  exist,  therefore 
GOD  Is. 

We  shall  further  assume  that  the  primary 
elements  or  principles  on  which  all  right  social 
institutions  are  based,  though  differing  from 
each  other  and  limitless  in  number,  are  harmo- 
nious with  each  other,  essential  to  the  being  of 


6          TUB  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

each  other,  and  together  constitute  the  Unity 
of  Being. 

But  as  every  unity  must  be  the  union  of  two 
or  more  things,  we  assume  that  the  Unity  of 
Infinite  Being  consists  in  the  union  of  three 
groups  of  primary  elements  or  principles, 
namely:  the  elements  of  Substance,  the  ele- 
ments of  Nature,  and  the  elements  of  Art. 

Substance  is  the  source  of  all  substantives ; 
and  substantives  are  articulations  or  expres- 
sions of  Substance,  either  to  our  physical  or 
mental  perceptions,  whereby  "we  may  see  and 
possess  in  objective  forms  all  subjective  realities 
(Acts  14:  17;  Rom.  1 :  20;  Heb.  11:  3).  Thus 
the  human  body  is  a  substantive,  and  is  not  only 
an  outward  and  visible  expression  of  our  in  ward 
and  personal  being,  but  also  a  habitation  of  the 
spirit  and  a  medium  of  activities  in  this  world. 
In  fact,  without  Substance  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  articulate  Nature  or  Art,  or  even  to 
conceive  ideas  or  images  of  thought.  All  right 
social  institutions,  objectively  made  manifest, 
as  is  Christian  faith  in  the  Church  of  Christ 
(Heb.  11 :  1),  are  substantives — expressions  in 
his  Substance  of  God's  social  Nature  and  Art. 
Unless  our  ideas  of  social  culture  are  derived 
from  him,  they  cannot  be  expressed  in  his  Sub- 
stance, or  practically  applied  to  the  improve- 


8DBSTANCE,    NATURE,    AND    ART.  7 

ment  of  society,  being,  as  are  all  other  false  and 
deceptive  things,  evolved  from  the  corrupt  use 
and  perversion  of  our  natural  gifts. 

Nature  comprehends  the  primary  elements  of 
Being  which  determine,  and  are,  the  character 
and  quality  of  Being,  of  all  things  rightly  exist- 
ing therein,  and  their  proper  conditions  and  re- 
lations. These  elements  constitute  the  laws  of 
Being,  which,  though  not  the  ultimate  sources 
of  authority — not  authority  itself — express  au- 
thority. Thus  as  the  human  body,  which  ex- 
presses the  substance  or  personality,  is  not  the 
substance  or  personality,  but  only  the  expres- 
sion thereof,  so  while  the  natural  principles  of 
Being  are  expressed  in  natural  laws,  natural 
laws  are  not  the  natural  principles  or  per- 
sonality of  Being,  but  only  the  expression 
thereof.  Yet  neither  substance  nor  nature  is 
derived,  but  both  are  original  elements  of  un- 
created Being — were  in  the  beginning  with 
Being,  and  are  Being. 

The  principles  of  Art  are  the  original  sources 
of  all  authority,  and  constitute,  in  conjunction 
with  Substance  and  Nature,  the  divine  Per- 
sonality. From  them  we  derive  all  mental 
faculties — will,  volition,  conscience,  reason, 
memory,  forethought,  sensation,  as  also  all 
original  powers  of  reflection  and  construction. 


8          THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

They  are  also  the  sources  of  motion  and  life, 
whereby,  being  in  conjunction  with  Substance 
and  Nature,  and  in  absolute  harmony  therewith, 
as  a  healthy  mind  with  a  healthy  body,  all 
things  become  instinct  with  intelligence,  and 
represent  in  all  their  organisms  and  activities 
the  presence  and  inspiration  of  art. 

Now,  in  an  objective  sense,  Nature  as  dis- 
tinguished from  Art  is  popularly  supposed  to 
be  the  work  of  God  as  distinguished  from  that 
of  man.  It  is  conceded,  however,  that  true  art 
is  in  harmony  with  nature,  is  a  copy  of  nature, 
or  an  ideal  conception  which,  though  not  yet 
articulate  in  visible  forms,  is  yet  a  possibility  of 
natural  development.  If  this  be  true — if  true 
art  be  necessarily  in  harmony  with  nature,  and 
may  be  naturally  developed — the  one  cannot  be 
limited  to  the  works  of  man,  nor  the  other  to 
the  works  of  God. 

If  man  be  in  God's  image  (  Gen.  1 :  26),  he 
must  be,  when  perfect,  in  all  things  as  God  Is ; 
his  works  as  God's  works.  Hence,  if  in  a  sub- 
jective sense  there  is  art  in  man,  so  must  it  be 
also  in  God ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  nature. 
Both  are  in  the  being  of  God,  as  in  that  of  per- 
fect man,  intrinsic  and  harmonious  differences, 
as  matter  and  mind,  body  and  soul.  Both  have 
been  from  eternity  in  one  Being,  in  one  Personal 


SUBSTANCE,   NATURE,    AND   ART.  9 

Unity ;  and  as  it  would  be  absurd  to  suppose 
God  created  himself,  we  must  conclude  that 
subjective  Art  and  Nature  in  him  are  his 
attributes,  coeternal  in  him.  He  did  not  orig- 
inate subjective  Art,  which  includes  his  own 
original  powers  of  consciousness  and  will ;  nor 
Nature,  which  is  the  original  character  and 
quality  of  Being.  Like  our  own,  his  Being  is 
both  subjective  and  outwardly  expressed  in  ob- 
jective existences,  active  and  passive,  voluntary 
and  involuntary.  In  short,  if  man  be  the  off- 
spring of  God,  God  is  the  Original  Man,  dif- 
fering from  perfect  man  only  in  degree ;  and 
true  art  and  nature  are  alike  in  the  being  of 
each,  and  are  identical,  though  one  person 
differs  from  another  in  individuality  as  parent 
from  child,  or  as  in  comprehensions  and  powers 
the  infinite  differs  from  the  finite. 

It  is  also  generally  supposed  that  natural 
laws  and  all  objects  of  nature  are  the  creations 
of  God ;  which  is  true,  if  by  creation  we  mean 
the  outward  expression  of  his  Nature  and  Art, 
but  is  erroneous  if  we  mean  thereby  that  he 
originated  the  sources  of  natural  laws  and  ob- 
jects of  nature ;  for  this  would  be  to  suppose 
he  originated  himself.  God  is  himself  Sub- 
stance, Nature,  and  Art,  and  these  are  eternal  in 
him.  Being  Infinite  and  comprehensive  of  all 


10        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

things,  he  does  not  originate  anything  outside 
of  himself,  for  if  he  did  he  would  originate 
something  from  nothing,  which  is  absurd.  Yet 
while  he  originates  no  thing  he  creates  all 
things,  causes  them,  to  grow  (creare),  evolves, 
constructs  and  develops  them.  That  is,  he  ex- 
presses his  Nature  in  natural  objects,  and  his 
Art  in  natural  works.  Hence  God  is  not  nat- 
ural objects  nor  natural  works,  but  these  are 
the  revelations  or  expressions  of  God,  and  exist 
of  him  and  in  him.  But  while  nature  and  art 
are  ever  in  perfect  harmony,  so  that  what  are 
natural  are  ideal,  and  what  are  ideal  are  also 
natural,  they  are  always  more  or  less  at  vari- 
ance in  corrupt  and  sinful  men. 

Subjective  Art  in  the  Being  of  God  is  the 
limitless  power  of  the  divine  will  in  the  evolu- 
tion and  development  in  substantive  forms  of 
pure  ideals  conceived  of  the  divine  Conscious- 
ness ;  and  Substance  and  Nature  are  the  me- 
dium and  means  of  such  development.  Thus 
the  creation  from  the  original  elements  of  Sub- 
stance of  a  beautiful  world  in  accordance  with 
the  laws  of  Nature  was  the  work  of  divine  Art 
— the  materialization  of  God's  ideal.  So  also 
his  efforts  to  redeem  the  social  world  from  its 
chaotic  and  sinful  conditions — to  bring  order 
out  of  chaos,  freedom  from  bondage,  right  from. 


SUBSTANCE,   NATURE,   AND   ART.  11 

•wrong,  joy  from  sorrow,  beauty  from  ashes, 
heaven  from  hell — are  the  evidences  and  illus- 
trations of  his  power  to  evolve  and  develop 
that  which  should  be  from  that  which  is,  and 
to  direct  and  control  all  social  interests  accord- 
ing to  his  will  (Isa.  61 :  1-4). 

Nature  in  itself  is  passive,  but  in  unity  with 
art  is  put  in  motion  and  produces  endless 
chains  of  causes  and  effects — just  as  the  organs 
of  the  human  body  are  put  in  motion  by  the 
presence  of  the  spirit, — whereby  the  purposes 
of  art  are  fulfilled  instinctively  and  uncon- 
sciously to  itself  therein  ;  and  the  methods  by 
which  such  purposes  are  fulfilled  are  what  we 
call  the  laws  of  nature.  And  as  every  effect 
must  correspond  with  its  cause,  even  as  reason- 
ableness must  correspond  with  reason,  and  as 
the  divine  consciousness  and  will  are  the  orig- 
inal causes  of  natural  activities,  the  laws  of  na- 
ture must  be  reasonable  and  just.  They  are 
God's  ways,  which,  being  absolutely  right, 
know  no  variableness,  neither  shadow  of  turn- 
ing (Jas.  1 :  17). 

In  this  connection  we  can  understand  the 
difference  between  the  natural  law  of  evolution 
and  the  special  providence  of  God,  the  one 
being  passive  and  involuntary — the  mechanical 
operation  of  natural  laws  established  from 


12        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

eternity,  which  produces  natural,  that  is  rea- 
sonable, causes  and  effects, — and  the  other  im- 
passioned and  voluntary,  the  overruling  and 
directing,  the  working  out  by  means  of  natural 
laws  the  ideal  conceptions,  plans,  and  purposes 
of  the  divine  mind.  As  Nature  and  Art  are 
intrinsic  and  harmonious  differences  in  the 
Being  of  God,  so  are  evolution  and  providence 
in  respect  to  all  things  which  exist  therein. 
They  are  never  in  conflict,  while  one  is  the  con- 
tinuous and  the  inevitable  sequence  of  prece- 
dent conditions,  and  the  other  wholly  a  matter 
of  volition.  As  in  man,  so  is  there  in  God  the 
power  to  develop  his  ideals — to  avail  himself 
of  natural  laws  to  work  out  his  special  plans 
and  purposes.  That  is,  while  the  evolution  of 
like  from  like,  which  we  may  call  natural  selec- 
tion,— whereby  the  continuity  and  order  of 
things  are  secured,  each  thing  perpetuating 
itself  in  accordance  with  original  and  eternally 
established  principles, — is  a  law  of  Being  which 
knows  no  variableness,  neither  shadow  of  turn- 
ing, there  are  necessarily  involved  therewith 
spiritual  forces  which  have  been  from  eternity, 
and  which  established  this  law,  whereby  new 
and  improved  natural  conditions  may  be  se- 
cured. Nature  and  Art  are  naturally  involved, 
so  that  while  natural  laws  are  invariable  in  op- 


SUBSTANCE,   NATURE,   AND   ART.  13 

eration,  that  which  is  evolved  thereby  is  always 
previously  designed,  and  may  vary  in  accord- 
ance with  the  plans  and  purposes  of  Art.  Thus 
a  natural  wilderness  will  naturally  reproduce 
itself,  and  will  always  remain  a  wilderness 
with  no  improvement  or  change,  and  chaos  will 
produce  chaos,  except  by  the  intervention  of 
art  there  be  developed  therefrom  a  cultured 
landscape  or  a  beautiful  world.  Nature  has  no 
purpose  in  itself  but  to  exist  as  it  is,  but  when 
joined  with  art,  as  it  must  necessarily  be,  both 
being  in  one  Being,  it  represents  the  purposes 
of  art,  and  may  produce  unlimited  variations 
and  improvements.  As  is  a  human  being  in  a 
finite  sense,  so  is  God  in  an  infinite  sense  able 
to  construct  whatever  he  will — not,  however, 
contrary  to  natural  laws,  but  by  means  of,  and 
in  accordance  with,  such  laws.  Thus  a  sinful 
man  may,  without  destroying  his  nature,  be- 
come so  improved  in  nature  as  to  become  a 
righteous  man. 

As  we  become  more  and  more  conscious  by 
the  education  and  development  of  our  faculties, 
of  higher  and  purer  sources  of  life  and  happi- 
ness, we  naturally  strive  for  their  realization. 
The  conscience  becomes  increasingly  conscious 
of  higher  ideals,  purer  emotions  and  sympa- 
thies, and  the  will  strives  to  make  them  real — 


14        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

to  express  in  substantive  forms  that  which 
otherwise  were  merely  fanciful.  New  aspira- 
tions are  awakened  and  seek  expression  in  our 
outward  surroundings,  that  which  is  outward 
and  visible  may  be  in  harmony  with  that  which 
is  inward  and  spiritual — that  which  now  is  with 
that  which  may  and  ought  to  be. 

The  natural  order,  therefore,  whereby  from 
things  past,  things  present  have  been  evolved, 
and  from  things  present,  things  to  come  will  be 
made  to  appear,  is  not,  as  many  suppose,  indic- 
ative of  a  lack  of  intelligence  and  design  in 
Being ;  but  on  the  contrary  all  fixed  laws  re- 
veal a  character,  plan,  and  purpose,  and  so  far 
from  limiting  the  Supreme  Intelligence,  denote 
an  unlimited  power  of  volition  and  construc- 
tion. As  well  might  we  suppose  that,  because 
we  are  subject  to  natural  laws,  we  have  no 
power  to  will,  create,  or  construct  anything  at 
all,  or  to  improve  our  condition,  as  that  the 
natural  law  of  evolution — which  simply  means 
that  like  produces  like,  or  that  every  effect  is 
a  rational  sequence  of  its  cause — renders  it 
impossible  that  there  should  be  an  overruling 
providence.  Law,  so  far  from  limiting  possi- 
bilities, or  freedom  of  action  and  volition,  is 
the  source  and  medium  thereof,  so  that  without 
fixed  principles  of  law  and  order  there  would 


SUBSTANCE,   NATURE,   AND   ART.  15 

be  no  authority  or  power  at  all,  law  being  the 
expression  of  conscience  and  volition.  Though 
it  is  impossible  to  suppose  the  Infinite  Mind 
should  be  capricious,  or  that  from  eternity  hav- 
ing established  natural  laws  it  should  now  an- 
nul them,  we  must  yet  believe  that  by  these 
laws  are  all  things  possible,  and  that  by  means 
of,  and  in  harmony  therewith,  it  is  able  to  ful- 
fill all  its  purposes. 

But  it  is  queried  how,  if  there  be  an  over- 
ruling providence,  sin,  injustice,  and  unde- 
served suffering  should  be  permitted  to  exist  in 
the  world.  But  this  questioning  arises  from 
our  separating  Nature  and  Art  from  each  other, 
whereas  they  are  mutually  involved,  so  that 
the  expression  of  one  is  also  that  of  the  other, 
and  each  must  be  harmonious  with  the  other — 
so  that  if  we  have  corrupted  our  art,  our 
nature  will  necessarily  be  also  corrupt.  A  like 
difficulty  arises  from  separating  the  ideas  of 
the  natural  and  supernatural  from  each  other ; 
for  if  we  suppose  that  the  supernatural  is  con- 
trary to  the  natural,  and  has  no  respect  to 
natural  laws,  we  are  entertaining  an  absurdity — 
all  laws,  natural  or  spiritual,  being  ordained  of 
God,  and  it  being  impossible  to  suppose  that 
he  would  or  could  thwart  his  own  purposes  and 
decrees.  He  may  suffer  the  tares  to  grow  un- 


16         TUB  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

til  the  harvest,  lest  in  rooting  them  up  the  good 
wheat  be  rooted  up  also,  but  they  will  certainly 
be  destroyed  at  last.  It  is  man,  not  God,  that 
permits  oppressive  and  unjust  social  conditions 
to  exist;  for  as  God  has  imparted  his  own  free 
will  to  man — for  otherwise  man  could  not 
exist,  could  not  be  a  man  without  having  a  will 
of  his  own  as  God  has — he  could  not  compel  a 
sinful  human  being  to  be  righteous,  contrary  to 
its  own  will ;  and  as  all  men  are  more  or  less 
selfish,  he  could  not  instantly  blot  out  iniquity 
without  blotting  out  the  whole  human  race. 
The  common  idea  that  God  can  do  anything 
we  can  conceive  of,  however  absurd,  is  a 
fallacy ;  for  in  fact — and  for  the  very  reason 
that  he  is  omnipotent,  all-wise,  and  absolutely 
just  and  perfect — he  cannot  do  a  great  many 
things  that  are  possible  to  finite,  foolish,  unjust 
and  sinful  men.  Necessarily,  therefore,  in  a 
sinful  world,  the  just  will  unjustly  suffer  for 
the  unjust — not  by  God's  permission,  for  he 
does  not  and  will  not  permit  injustice  cease- 
lessly to  endure — it  proving  ultimately  true  in 
all  cases,  as  in  the  example  of  the  Christ,  that 
those  who  are  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake 
are  really  blessed  thereby  (Matt.  5  :  10  ;  Rom.  8 : 
18,  28). 

The   Infinite   Perfection — the    original    and 


SUBSTANCE,   NATURE,   AND   ART.  17 

perfect  Man — is  of  all  men  the  standard  abso- 
lute of  righteousness  :  and  unless  we  rule  our 
theories  and  works  by  this  standard — unless 
in  our  substance,  nature,  and  art,  in  body,  mind, 
and  spirit,  we  are  in  unity  with  God,  our  work 
is  unlawful,  irrational,  unjust,  vain,  and  sinful, 
and  can  only  evolve  social  conditions  of  pov- 
erty and  distress.  If,  for  example,  we  go  on  in 
sin  that  grace  may  abound  (Rom.  6  :  1);  strive 
to  right  wrong  by  wrong ;  seek  justification  by 
injustice ;  secure  or  hold  riches  by  making 
others  poor ;  seek  freedom  by  enslaving  others ; 
or  knowledge  and  refinement  by  making  others 
ignorant  and  brutal ; — in  short  if  our  theory 
and  practice  are  not  in  harmony  with  the 
divine  Art  and  Nature,  we  deceive  ourselves, 
pervert  and  degrade  our  gifts  of  God,  and  in- 
volve our  social  being  in  otherwise  needless 
poverty  and  distress. 

It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  except  we  improve 
our  art  our  social  redemption  is  impossible. 
There  must  be  first  a  true  theory  of  reform,  an 
ideal  conception  of  better  social  relations  and 
conditions,  and  this  must  be  practically  applied 
to  the  proper  adjustment  and  development 
thereof.  Such  reform,  however,  cannot  come  by 
observation  (Luke  17 :  20) — by  simply  folding 
our  hands,  and  waiting  for  its  development  by 


18         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

the  natural  laws  of  evolution  ;  for  our  nature  is 
itself  perverted,  and  as  nature  evolves  like 
from  like,  it  cannot  in  itself  evolve  from  cor- 
rupt social  conditions  those  which  are  just.  All 
reform  must  come  by  art,  by  improvement  of 
our  conscience  and  will — by  ideal  conceptions 
imparted  by  the  direct  inspiration  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,  and  practically  applied  to  the  reforma- 
tion of  our  present  unnatural  and  corrupt 
social  life. 

Although  subject  ever  to  natural  laws,  we 
yet  possess  such  powers  of  conscience  and  voli- 
tion that  we  may  limitlessly  improve  in  all 
things  that  pertain  to  our  physical,  mental,  and 
spiritual  well-being.  Without  such  ideal  con- 
ceptions derived  from  the  inspirations  of  God 
• — his  consciousness  and  will  working  upon  our 
conscience  and  will — we  are  blinded  by  our  sin 
and  selfishness,  and  grope  our  way  in  darkness. 
There  must  be  a  mark  set  before  us,  to  which, 
forgetting  the  things  behind,  we  are  constantly 
pressing  forward  (Phil.  3:  14);  there  must  be 
prophecy  and  promise  ;  there  must  be  a  right 
social  theory — a  practical  faith  in  our  limitless 
possibilities  of  improvement  in  the  limitless 
power  of  an  omnipotent  and  loving  Father. 
From  him  must  be  derived  our  personal  con- 
sciousness of  our  ability  to  develop  and  perfect 


SUBSTANCE,  NATURE,   AND  ART.  19 

our  manhood.  Being  sinful,  and  yet  conscious 
that  we  are  not  totally  depraved,  we  may  in- 
crease in  righteousness;  being  weak,  we  may 
yet  limitlessly  increase  in  physical,  mental  and 
spiritual  power ;  being  poor  and  blind  and 
miserable,  yet  possessed  in  some  degree  of  every 
faculty  of  God,  we  may  increase  in  his  bound- 
less riches,  in  his  infinite  comprehensions  of 
knowledge,  and  in  his  exhaustless  sources  of 
happiness.  For  as  he  is  the  Infinite  and  Abso- 
lute, and  as  we  are  of  and  in  him — are  his  off- 
spring, sons  and  heirs  of  his  boundless  riches — 
all  things  may  be  ours,  and  we  may  receive  of 
him  in  limitless  measure  (1  Cor.  3  :  22).  Every 
limit,  indeed,  is  a  positive  evidence  of  an  illim- 
itable, as  is  every  drop  of  water  of  an  ocean  ; 
every  particle  of  dust,  of  a  world ;  every  finite 
being,  of  Infinite  Being ;  every  imperfection,  of 
an  absolute  Perfection ;  every  good  thing  we 
enjoy,  of  limitless  sources  of  enjoyment ;  every 
social  privilege,  of  boundless  freedom ;  every 
life,  of  boundless  life, — for  no  part  of  being, 
however  small,  can  become  separated  from  the 
infinite  All,  from  which  it  is  derived. 

The  goal  of  humanity,  of  an  individual, 
family,  or  nation,  is  its  absolute  perfection,  in 
which  there  is  perfect  unity  of  the  human  with 
the  divine  Substance,  Nature,  and  Art;  and  if 


20  THE  GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

this  be  realized  and  steadily  pursued,  there  will 
be  an  immediate,  great,  and  rapid  increase  in 
social  freedom  and  enjoyment. 

But  this  ideal  conception  of  our  possibilities 
of  social  improvement,  developed  of  our  faith 
in  the  Infinite  and  Absolute  Perfection,  would 
be  practically  useless,  inspiring  only  unsatisfied 
longings,  unless  accompanied  with  a  clear  and 
definite  conception  of  the  practical  methods  by 
which  it  can  be-  realized.  We  may  believe  in 
the  reality  of  things  which  our  eyes  have  not 
seen,  nor  ears  heard,  neither  have  yet  entered 
into  our  hearts — may,  indeed,  have  certainty  in 
our  minds  of  their  existence,  and  that  they  are 
possibilities  of  our  social  life,  and  yet  have  no 
knowledge  of  the  methods  by  which  they  may 
be  practically  realized.  Thus  we  may  feel  sure 
that  there  might  be  a  social  condition  of  perfect 
liberty,  and  may  picture  in  fancy  such  condi- 
tion, and  yet  be  utterly  blind  to  the  way  in 
which  it  may  become  an  actual  experience, — 
may  even  regard  it  as  impossible  of  attainment 
in  this  life.  But  if,  as  we  believe,  the  moral 
law,  known  as  the  Ten  Commandments,  is  a 
full  and  complete  definition  of  social  rights  and 
obligations,  and  if  Jesus  the  Christ  be  an  ex- 
ample of  perfected  humanity,  and  his  gospel 
the  fulfillment  of  the  law  in  love,  we  have  pre- 


SUBSTANCE,   NATURE,   AND   ART.  21 

sented  to  us  in  all  essential  details  the  true  and 
practical  theory  of  social  redemption  in  the 
perfection  of  human  nature  and  art.  Assum- 
ing this  to  be  true,  all  that  is  necessary  to  the 
right  solution  of  all  social  problems  is  the 
practical  application  of  this  law  and  gospel. 
In  this  way  we  may  right  every  wrong,  and 
open  every  prison  door — and  in  this  way  only, 
since  it  is  self-evident  that  all  social  improve- 
ment must  be  measured  by  the  degree  of  our 
approximation  to  the  ideal  standard  of  man- 
hood presented  in  the  example  and  teaching  of 
the  Perfect  Man. 

At  this  time  great  social  problems  are  im- 
peratively demanding  solution.  There  have 
come  to  pass  in  the  progress  of  our  culture  so 
great  developments  of  conscience  and  volition, 
that  there  is  almost  universal  discontent  with 
the  unjust  and  oppressive  social  conditions  and 
relations  in  which  we  live,  and  which  we  have 
in  part  inherited  from  our  barbarian  ancestry. 
This  discontent  has  arisen  from  a  better  under- 
standing of  natural  and  acquired  rights,  and  of 
the  limitations  imposed  thereon  by  past  igno- 
rance and  present  cupidity,  whereby  our  nature 
and  art  are  perverted  to  sensual  and  selfish 
uses.  Our  insane  and  almost  exclusive  devo- 
tion to  material  riches,  and  our  reckless  compe- 


22  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

tition  in  their  acquirement  have  resulted  in  the 
enrichment  of  the  few  and  the  impoverishment 
of  the  many ;  and  the  latter,  instructed  and 
disciplined  by  their  sufferings,  and  enlightened 
by  increased  development  and  wider  diffusion 
of  knowledge,  have  come  to  realize  the  en- 
slavement they  are  compelled  to  endure,  and 
have  rebelled  against  it, — although  they  have 
as  yet  but  little  conception-  of  right  social 
theories,  whereby  equal  social  rights  and  privi- 
leges may  be  practically  realized.  Deeming 
that  others  more  fortunate  than  themselves  are 
their  oppressors — walking  by  sight  and  not  by 
faith,  judging  by  appearances  and  not  by  prin- 
ciples,— they  conclude  that  if  the  wealth  of  the 
favored  few  were  forcibly  taken  from  them  and 
equally  divided  among  the  masses,  all  would 
be  rich,  free,  and  equal ;  whereas  we  can  secure 
social  rights  only  to  the  degree  we  observe 
social  duties. 

While,  no  doubt,  the  civilization  of  our  age 
is  superior  to  any  that  has  preceded  it,  yet  as 
every  virtue  gives  by  its  perversion  the  oppor- 
tunity of  a  corresponding  vice,  and  the  greater 
the  virtue  the  greater  the  vice  developed  there- 
from, our  great  advancement  in  religious,  politi- 
cal, industrial,  scientific,  and  aesthetic  culture 
has  been  accompanied  with  a  corresponding  in- 


SUBSTANCE,  NATURE,   AND   ART.  23 

crease  in  debasing  and  vicious  parasitic  growths, 
whereby  things  that  are  good  are  perverted  into 
things  that  are  evil.  Hence  no  past  age  has 
presented  so  great  and  so  varied  developments 
as  the  present  of  diseases,  vices,  crimes,  and 
systems  of  oppression — such  subtleties  and  re- 
finements of  cruelty.  The  three  parasitic  and 
all  comprehensive  elements  of  destruction — the 
Moth,  Rust,  and  Thief  (Matt.  6 : 19)— have  found 
new  and  numberless  opportunities  of  multipli- 
cation in  the  great  increase  of  riches  and  knowl- 
edge perverted  to  unnatural  uses — to  excessive 
devotion  to  the  letter  to  the  neglect  of  the  spirit 
of  natural,  moral,  and  spiritual  laws,  whereby 
they  have  become  tributary  to  selfishness  and 
sensuality.  Although  all  progress  comes  by  the 
right  culture  of  art,  whereby  our  nature  is  im- 
proved and  exalted,  art  is  merely  fictitious  and 
degrading  if  in  conflict  with  a  true  nature.  Its 
spirit,  naturally  idealistic  and  prophetic  of  bet- 
ter things,  may  become  simply  realistic  and 
sensual,  merely  formal  and  mechanical,  judg- 
ing only  by  appearances,  and  walking  by  sight 
rather  than  by  faith. 

Believing  that  Christian  faith,  hope,  and  char- 
ity, evolved  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  of  the 
example  of  a  perfected  humanity  in  Jesus  the 
Christ,  and  of  his  gospel  of  universal  peace  and 


24        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

brotherhood,  present  the  true  theory  of  social 
redemption,  our  effort  in  this  study  is  to  under- 
stand and  define  what  this  theory  is,  what  are 
the  social  problems  it  seeks  to  solve,  and  what 
are  the  right  methods  by  which  it  may  be  practi- 
cally applied.  It  is  the  ideal  conception  in  the 
Divine  Mind,  incarnated  in  humanity,  of  what 
our  social  relations  should  be,  of  what  we  should 
and  may  become — the  social  polity  of  the  King- 
dom of  God,  which  he  seeks  to  establish  on 
earth.  If  we  make  this  conception  our  own, — 
if  this  faith  of  God  in  us  becomes  our  faith  in 
ourselves,  in  our  own  possibilities  of  improve- 
ment,— we  may  rightly  solve  all  social  problems, 
and  go  on  unto  perfection  (Matt.  5 :  44).  Other- 
wise— unless  we  are  led  thereby  to  ideal  con- 
ceptions of  improved  social  relations,  and  realize 
them  in  our  outward  life — the  further  progress 
of  our  race  is  impossible.  We  have  plainly 
reached  the  limit  of  improvement  possible  while 
the  social  problems  that  confront  us  remain  un- 
solved. Our  nature  and  art  are  so  perverted 
and  conflicting,  and  our  social  life  and  hap- 
piness are  so  involved  therein,  that  unless 
brought  into  harmonious  relations,  our  civili- 
zation, like  the  many  that  have  preceded  it, 
though  nominally  Christian,  must  perish.  There 
must  either  be  reform,  whereby  the  real  im- 


SUBSTANCE,   NATURE,   AND   ART.  25 

provements  of  the  past  may  be  saved  and  util- 
ized for  further  improvements,  or  there  will  be 
indiscriminate  destruction  of  our  religious,  edu- 
cational, and  political  systems.  Nature  will 
inevitably  produce  the  rational  sequences  of 
present  conditions,  and  is,  when  our  theories 
and  practices  are  in  conflict  with  the  conscience 
and  will  of  God,  as  necessarily  destructive  of 
them  as  the  wages  of  sin  is  death;  but  pre- 
servative of  them  if  in  harmony  therewith. 

That  reform  is  wiser  than  iconoclasm  should 
be  plainly  manifest.  Evil  is  not  positive,  but 
negative,  and  is  always  associated  with  partial 
good.  It  is  always  the  just  evolution  of  per- 
verted nature  and  art.  There  is  in  fact  no  such 
thing  possible  in  Being  as  pure  original  evil. 
What  is  called  such  is  a  parasitic  development 
of  diseased  social  life.  Every  evil  is  in  some 
sense  right  and  natural,  being  the  result  of  our 
transgressions  of  the  laws  of  God.  Hence  true 
reform  will  without  destruction  save  that  which 
is  lost.  Thus  the  worship  of  idols  may  be  con- 
verted into  that  of  the  true  God ;  the  Church, 
however  corrupt,  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  ; 
a  government,  however  tyrannical,  into  one  of 
liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity;  a  body  or 
mind,  however  weak  or  diseased,  into  one  of 
strength  and  health;  death  into  life,  sin  into 


26  THE    GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

righteousness,  and  even  Satan  into  an  angel  of 
light. 

Complicated  and  difficult  as  may  appear  the 
social  problems  that  confront  us,  there  is  always 
a  plain  and  simple  way  by  which  each  may  be 
rightly  and  practically  solved.  But  there  is 
only  one  true  way — the  way  of  God ;  for  the 
infinite  and  absolute  Perfection  precludes  the 
possibility  of  any  other  than  that  which  approx- 
imates his  Standard  of  righteousness.  And  if 
Jesus  the  Christ,  as  we  believe,  was  the  Per- 
fect Man,  his  idealism,  his  theory  of  social  re- 
demption, must  represent  the  divine  Conscious- 
ness and  Will ;  his  Way,  Truth,  and  Life  in  a 
perfected  humanity.  His  wisdom,  his  social 
science,  practically  applied  to  our  redemption 
from  all  suffering  and  oppression,  is  the  Beauti- 
ful Gate  of  entrance  to  the  Temple  of  God. 


BOOK  FIRST. 


SOCIALISTIC  IDEAS. 

"  Now  Peter  and  John  vent  up  together  into  the  temple  at  the 
hour  of  prayer,  being  the  ninth  hour." — Acts  3:  1. 


PROLOGUE. 

SOCIALITY  AND  SELFISHNESS. 

MAN  is  the  race  of  men — the  totality  of  be- 
ings of  his  kind ;  and  whether  as  an  individual, 
family,  or  nation,  he  exists  only  as  one  of  many. 
One  MAN  is  all  men,  and  all  men  are  one  MAN. 
Every  element  or  attribute  of  the  One  exists 
also  in  the  other,  nor  could  either  exist  without 
the  other — the  infinite  Whole  without  its  finite 
parts,  or  the  finite  parts  without  their  infinite 
Whole — any  more  than  father  without  children, 
or  children  without  father. 

God  is  the  Original  Man,  being  the  original 
Father  of  all  men,  and  all  men  being  his  off- 
spring and  in  his  likeness  (Gen.  1 :  27 ;  Acts 
17 :  28,  29),  in  him  are  all  elements  of  father- 
hood, sonship,  and  brotherhood.  Man  is  there- 
fore necessarily  a  social  being.  As  an  individ- 
ual he  cannot  live  unto  himself  alone  (Rom. 
14  :  7,  8  ;  2  Cor.  5 :  15),  but  must  live  unto  so- 
ciety as  society  must  live  unto  God,  and  must 
sustain  the  relations  of  father,  son,  or  brother, 
and  in  the  natural  order  of  his  being  all  these 

29 


30        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

relations.  He  has  a  natural  place,  duty,  and 
right  in  society,  and  society  the  same  in  him, 
to  ignore  which  would  be  to  ignore  Being  itself, 
in  which  all  things  have  being,  the  transgres- 
sion of  all  natural  and  moral  laws,  and  the  de- 
struction of  all  gifts  naturally  derived  from 
sonship  in  the  universal  Father.  All  his  per- 
sonal interests  are  necessarily  identical  with 
those  of  society,  and  nothing  he  can  do,  or  be, 
or  possess,  exclusive  of  the  interests  of  his  fel- 
low-men, or  in  conflict  therewith,  can  be  con- 
ducive to  his  own  ultimate  well-being.  That 
is,  he  cannot  be  selfish  without  injury  to  him- 
self and  others.  The  well-being  of  society  is 
the  well-being  of  every  individual  member 
thereof;  and  that  of  every  individual  member 
that  of  society.  And  he  is  not  only  social  in 
nature  but  wholly  social — all  his  faculties  of 
mind  and  body,  as  well  his  surroundings  and 
possessions  being  socialistic — of  society,  for  so- 
ciety, and  by  society.  His  individuality,  his 
organic  unity  of  body  and  soul,  is  possessed  in 
common  with  all  others  of  his  kind,  all  indi- 
vidualities being  derived  from,  and  compre- 
hended in,  the  Individuality  of  God,  being 
unities  of  Unity.  Indeed  the  true  idea  of  in. 
dividuality  can  differ  from  that  of  sociality  only 
as  the  degrees  of  their  comprehensions  differ — 


SOCIALITY   AND   SELFISHNESS.  31 

the  one  combining  all  the  primary  elements 
that  constitute  a  personality,  and  the  other 
combining  all  personalities. 

The  common  idea,  therefore,  that  because  one 
human  being  differs  from  all  others  in  individu- 
ality, is  distinct  and  separate  from  them  in 
body,  mind,  and  spirit,  and  possesses  an  inde- 
pendent conscience  and  will,  he  has  no  interest 
in  or  responsibility  to  or  for  others,  is  a  fallacy. 
As  well  might  one  organ  of  the  human  body 
assert  its  independence  of  all  others,  as  one 
man  of  all  other  men — all  organs  being  united 
in  one  body,  arid  dependent  upon  that  body,  as 
are  all  individuals  in  one  society,  all  children 
in  one  family,  and  all  citizens  in  one  State  or 
Nation  (1  Cor.  12 :  14-27).  A  selfish  individu- 
alism is,  in  fact,  the  perversion  and  destruction 
of  its  own  individuality — the  source  of  all  per- 
sonal weakness,  poverty,  and  decay. 

Nor  is  the  common  idea  true  that  individu- 
ality is  decreased  by  sociality,  and  would  be 
swallowed  up  and  extinguished  in  an  absolutely 
perfect  community  of  individual  intejests;  but 
on  the  contrary  it  is  increased  thereby,  and 
would  in  a  perfect  community  be  itself  perfect. 
As  individuality  is  born  of  society,  and  is  of  the 
same  nature,  it  can  only  be  developed  therein 
by  the  community  of  its  members — of  hus- 


82        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

bands  and  wives,  parents  and  children,  brothers 
and  sisters,  friends  and  neighbors — so  that,  the 
more  such  community  is  improved  and  strength- 
ened, so  also  must  be  the  individualities  that 
compose  it.  Thus  the  individuality  of  a  man 
or  woman  is  increased  by  marriage,  of  parents 
by  children,  of  citizens  by  the  increased  great- 
ness of  their  country,  and  especialty  of  the 
whole  human  race  to  the  degree  it  grows  in  the 
consciousness  of  its  own  possibilities  of  life  and 
power  in  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

What  is  true  respecting  the  social  nature  of 
God  and  man  is  also  true  of  all  other  beings. 
And  as  man  is  the  highest  order  in  this  world, 
and  all  things  are  subject  to  him  and  for  his  use 
(Gen.  1 :  26-30),  the  corruption  of  his  nature 
must  necessarily  corrupt  that  of  every  other 
inferior  order ;  for  it  plainly  should  be  and  is 
the  law  of  Being — the  rational  and  just  evolu- 
tion of  like  from  like — that  our  environment 
should  correspond  with  our  social  conditions — 
our  physical  and  objective  with  our  spiritual 
and  subjective.  The  world  we  live  in  must  be 
as  we  are — the  mirror  which  reflects  our  own 
image.  In  fact  we  make  our  own  world, 
whether  a  heaven  or  hell.  Hence  if  we  are 
harmonious  within  ourselves,  so  will  our  sur- 
roundings be  which  exist  of  us — all  animals, 


SOCIALITY   AND   SELFISHNESS.  33 

plants,  and  inanimate  things  being  congenial 
therewith  (Job  5  .  23).  When  we  are  at  peace 
with  God  and  with  each  other,  then  will  all 
things  with  which  we  live,  and  which  grow  and 
exist  of  us,  be  at  peace  with  us  and  with  each 
other.  In  the  place  of  the  thorn  and  briar  will 
appear  the  fir  and  myrtle  (Isa.  55 :  13),  the 
wolf  dwell  with  the  lamb,  the  sucking  child 
play  on  the  hole  of  the  asp,  and  all  ideas  of 
evil  be  banished  from  human  consciousness 
(Rev.  21 :  4)  ;  for  it  is  not  possible  in  the  na- 
ture of  things,  or  in  the  mercy  and  wisdom  of 
God,  that  that  which  is  evil  be  eternally  asso- 
ciated with  that  which  is  good — howbeit  a 
partial  evil  may  and  must  be  associated  with  a 
partial  good  until  such  evil  is  overcome  with 
good.  Doubtless  the  tree  of  life  and  the  tree 
of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  must  always 
and  everywhere  for  our  discipline  in  obedience 
grow  together — it  being  impossible  that  we 
should  be  free  agents  or  possess  anything  good 
without  the  possibility  of  perverting  it  to  evil, 
— yet  we  may  learn  to  always  choose  the  good 
and  reject  the  evil  (Gen.  2:9;  Isa.  7 :  15 ; 
Ezek.  18 :  31,  32). 

Now  if  it  be  true  that  Being  is  the  Unity  of 
all  beings,  and  that  as  a  necessary  and  rational 
sequence  thereof  all  beings  are  social,  mutually 


34        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

dependent,  reciprocally  giving  and  receiving,  it 
is  plain  that  to  the  degree  any  person  is  un- 
social he  is  inharmonious  with  Being,  and  his 
nature  perverted.  In  other  words  an  unsocial 
person — one  who  does  not  give  as  he  receives, 
willing  to  receive  but  unwilling  to  bestow — is 
unjust  and  unrighteous,  and  therefore  sinful. 
Hence  sin  is  accurately  defined  as  unsociality ; 
and  as  unsociality  is  selfishness,  selfishness  is 
sin.  Indeed  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  any 
practical  idea  of  sin  that  is  not  unsocial  and 
selfish  ;  and  we  must  infer  that  the  culture  of 
true  religion  and  righteousness,  and  the  realiza- 
tion of  unity  and  peace  are  possible  only 
through  the  extermination  of  selfishness. 

Selfishness  is  individualism  as  opposed  to 
socialism  ;  and  although  our  individuality  is 
our  greatest  personal  gift,  being  derived  of  the 
Individuality  of  God,  and  comprehensive  of  all 
mental  and  physical  faculties,  and  all  capacities 
for  life  and  enjoyment,  it  becomes  when  per- 
verted to  selfish  uses  correspondingly  weak  and 
miserable  ;  "  for  what  can  it  profit  a  man  if  he 
gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  " 
(Matt.  22  :  13).  Yet  it  is  hard  for  selfish  men 
to  realize  that  the  more  one  gains  through  his 
selfishness  the  more  he  loses,  and  that  a  selfish 
rich  man  is  really  naked,  poor,  blind,  and  miser- 


SOCIALITY    AND   SELFISHNESS.  35 

able  (Rev.  3 :  17).  Nor  can  we  wonder  that  it 
is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a 
needle  than  for  such  a  man  to  enter  the  King- 
dom of  God  (Matt.  19:  24).  Viewing  all 
things  through  selfish  eyes,  evil  becomes  to  him 
a  seeming  good,  and  good  a  seeming  evil  (Isa. 
5 :  20) ;  and  judging  simply  from  appearances 
he  becomes  incapable  of  judging  righteous 
judgment  (John  7:  24).  Of  course  unselfish- 
ness is  paradoxical  to  selfish  men,  and  is  in  fact 
contradictory  and  absurd  in  a  depraved  social 
condition  which  is  itself  contrary  to  the  natural 
order  of  Being.  Thus  a  selfish  social  order 
renders  it  necessary  for  each  member  thereof  to 
look  out  for  himself,  save  himself  if  he  can 
from  beggary  and  starvation,  and  if  possible 
acquire,  whether  honestly  or  dishonestly,  such 
independence  of  riches  as  will  not  only  save 
him  from  want,  but  confer  upon  him  special 
social  powers  and  privileges.  No  doubt  it  is 
wise  to  regard  all  communistic  ideas  as  fanati- 
cal, impracticable,  and  absurd  in  the  present 
condition  of  society — that  is,  wise  in  a  selfish 
sense  for  selfish  men.  If  we  regard  unselfish- 
ness unwise  and  impracticable,  then  is  it  un- 
wise and  impracticable  to  us,  for  as  a  man 
thinketh  in  his  heart  so  is  he  (Prov.  23 :  7). 
If  we  cannot  understand  truth  because  it  is  the 


36        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

truth  (John  8  :  45),  then  is  falsehood  true  to 
us,  sin  righteousness,  and  selfishness  charity. 
If  we  love  the  god  of  this  world  more  than  the 
God  of  the  heavenly  world,  then  is  this  world 
heaven  to  us,  and  heaven  is  hell.  But  if  we 
permit  ourselves  to  be  so  blinded  as  to  deem 
unselfishness  impracticable  and  unwise — the 
social  polity  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  impossible 
in  the  present  condition  of  the  world — not  re- 
alizing that  this  present  condition  exists 
through  our  selfishness,  or  that,  if  we  cease 
ourselves  to  be  selfish,  then  unselfishness  would 
become  practicable — our  wisdom  is  but  foolish- 
ness with  God  (1  Cor.  3:  19).  In  fact  our 
selfish  wisdom  is  but  a  snare  (Ps.  9 :  16 ;  1 
Tim.  6 :  9) — like  the  gallows  Haman  erected, 
an  instrument  of  our  own  destruction.  There 
is  not  a  word  of  evil  import  in  human  speech 
that  is  not  the  expression  of  selfishness,  nor  an 
evil  thought,  impulse,  or  desire  that  is  not  in- 
spired thereby.  Hence  our  only  possible 
salvation  is  in  the  extermination  of  selfish- 
ness ;  for  it  is  manifestly  impossible  that  a 
selfish  person  should  be  admitted  to  the  King- 
dom of  God,  or  that  the  Kingdom  of  God 
should  be  introduced  into  this  world  except  to 
the  degree  we  become  unselfish.  And  the  only 
possible  way  in  which  selfishness  can  be  exter- 


SOCIALITY   AND   SELFISHNESS.  37 

minated  is  by  the  establishment  of  right  social 
relations  between  men,  whereby  the  best  inter- 
ests of  each  will  be  recognized  as  the  best  in- 
terests of  all. 


PART  I. 

THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA  OP   RELIGION. 

SUBJECTIVE  religion  is  the  conscience  of 
our  mutual  obligations  and  of  the  principles, 
laws,  and  necessities  upon  which  such  obli- 
gations are  based.  Objective  it  is  in  its  ap- 
plication to  the  outward  adjustment  of  social 
relations,  and  the  culture  of  social  interests 
in  accordance  with  such  principles,  laws  or 
necessities.  Its  primary  meaning — derived 
from  the  Latin  religere  or  religare,  to  bind  back 
or  collect  together — is  unity  of  God  and  Man, 
and  of  man  and  man,  in  one  family,  society,  or 
nation.  And  as  man  is  naturally  and  neces- 
sarily a  social  being,  its  idea — inseparable  from 
his  nature — is  an  instinctive  conception  in  the 
mind  of  each  individual  of  social  duty.  Its 
motive  is  love ;  and  as  every  faculty  of  our 
minds  is  the  ability  to  love  that  of  which  it  has 
power  to  conceive,  whether  of  a  physical  or 
spiritual  entity,  love  is  in  a  finite  sense  of  man, 
and  is  man,  as  it  is  in  a  limitless  sense  of  God, 
and  is  God  (1  John  4 :  8),  and  is  the  bond  of 
38 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA  OF   RELIGION.  39 

union  and  mutual  sympathy  whereby  all  per- 
sons are  bound  together  in  harmonious  re- 
lations. Hence,  religion  is  the  theory  and 
practice  of  love  in  all  social  relations — as  of 
God  and  man,  of  husband  and  wife,  of  parent 
and  child,  of  brother  and  sister,  and  of  friends, 
neighbors,  and  citizens.  It  is  the  first  con- 
science of  our  infancy,  whereby  we  recognize 
our  union  with  others  and  our  dependence  upon 
them ;  and  from  this  are  evolved  all  our  ideas 
of  authorities,  obligations,  rights,  and  oppor- 
tunities. Historically  this  bond  of  union  is 
traced  back  through  each  person's  ancestry  to 
the  original  founder  of  his  race,  extends  down 
to  his  offspring,  and  collaterally  to  brothers  and 
sisters  and  their  descendants,  thus  binding  him 
to  all  others  of  his  family  or  race.  Necessarily 
its  inception  in  humanity  was  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  first  man  of  his  relations  with  God, 
and  through  him  was  naturally  transmitted  to 
his  descendants.  But  as  men  multiplied  and 
became  widely  separated  in  time  and  space  and 
by  diverse  habits  of  life,  the  original  idea  be- 
came more  or  less  obscured,  and  its  methods  of 
culture  diversified  according  to  the  degrees  of 
intelligence  developed  in  the  various  families 
and  nations ;  yet  in  no  case  has  it  been  entirely 
obliterated  from  the  human  conscience,  nor  is 


40         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

it  possible  that  it  should  be,  being,  as  it  is, 
naturally  evolved.  Strictly  speaking  there  can 
be  no  society  without  religion,  as  there  can  be 
no  religion  without  society — without  the  mutual 
recognition  by  the  members  thereof  of  a  bond 
of  union  whereby  are  imposed  obligations  of 
obedience  to  just  authority,  and  of  respect  for 
each  other's  rights  and  interests.  Whether  de- 
fined as  natural  or  revealed  religion, — and  the 
two  are  one  and  the  same  in  principle,  it  being 
manifestly  true  that  there  can  be  but  one  true 
religion,  as  there  is  but  one  true  God — it  is 
always  and  necessarily  social.  As  called  "  nat- 
ural," religion  is  the  expression  of  our  natural 
instincts  which  teach  our  responsibilities  to  God 
and  our  fellow-men  ;  as  called  "  revealed,"  it  is 
an  institution  of  divine  art  inspired  in  the 
human  conscience,  teaching  the  same  or  similar 
obligations. 

It  is  impossible,  therefore,  to  be  socialists  in 
any  true  sense  except  we  be  also  in  a  like  sense 
religious ;  or  to  be  religious  except  we  be  also 
socialists.  In  fact  true  religion  is  true  socialism, 
and  there  can  be  no  other — that  which,  in 
recognition  of  the  supreme  authority  of  God  in 
the  regulation  of  our  relations  with  him  and 
with  each  other,  is  the  practical  culture  of  all 
virtues.  And  we  may  safely  assert  that  the 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OP   RELIGION.  41 

progress  of  mankind  in  the  culture  of  true  re- 
ligion exactly  measures,  and  is  coincident  with, 
its  right  social  culture  ;  and  if  wrong  or  oppres- 
sion of  any  kind  exists,  it  is  the  certain  evi- 
dence that  our  religion  is  in  a  like  degree  false, 
corrupt,  or  imperfectly  applied.  Hence,  it  is 
plainly  futile  to  attempt  to  reform  society  with- 
out religion ;  for  if  without  right  social  prin- 
ciples the  wronged  and  oppressed  resort  to 
brute  force  only,  and  in  defiance  of  religious 
obligations  set  up  their  own  authority  as 
supreme  in  the  regulation  of  social  interests 
and  relations,  they  would  themselves  become 
oppressors.  As  nature  cannot  reform  itself, 
there  must  be  the  intervention  of  art,  in  which 
only  is  there  a  sense  of  justice  and  mercy,  in 
order  to  develop  social  improvement;  and  art 
cannot  be  limited  simply  to  the  exercise  of 
brute  force,  although  when  rightly  and  intelli- 
gently directed  by  unselfish  motives,  brute 
force,  being  a  natural  force,  may  be  utilized  by 
a  true  art. 

It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  there  must  be  a 
right  theory  of  religion,  or  all  efforts  to  pro- 
mote social  reform  will  but  end  in  social  chaos; 
and  this  theory  must  be  inspired  of  the  con- 
sciousness of  God  in  the  conscience  of  hu- 
manity. Socialism  can  only  be  another  name 


42         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

for  fanaticism,  if  it  be  not  the  development  in 
our  social  life  of  the  heavenly  ideal.  There 
must  be  an  improved  sense  of  right  or  there  can 
be  no  practical  increase  of  righteousness ;  but  if 
our  religion  be  of  God,  and  properly  cultured 
and  applied,  social  progress  and  reform  are  its 
natural  developments. 

Peter  and  John  were  religious  men — they 
went  up  into  the  temple  at  the  hour  of  prayer. 
They  recognized  their  obligations  to  God  and 
their  fellow-men.  They  did  not  withdraw 
themselves  from  the  multitude  that  thronged 
in  at  the  Beautiful  Gate  of  the  temple  at  the 
hour  of  prayer,  although  their  ideas  of  religion 
were  vastly  higher  than  those  of  other  men, 
with  whose  prayers  to  God  they  mingled  their 
own  supplications.  There  could  be  no  greater 
exhibition  of  selfishness  than,  when  one  con- 
scious of  his  superior  gifts  and  possessions, 
natural  or  acquired,  withholds  himself  from 
contact  with  others  less  favored — thus  depriv- 
ing them  of  the  social  advantage  they  might 
otherwise  derive  from  his  example  and  teach- 
ing. 

Doubtless  one  of  the  greatest  hindrances  to 
the  progress  of  true  sociology  is  that  the  op- 
pressed classes  of  society,  while  they  make  lit- 
tle effort  to  redress  their  wrongs  in  God's  ap- 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OF   RELIGION.  43 

pointed  way,  devote  themselves  to  personal  re- 
sentments and  hostilities,  whereby  they  injure 
themselves  more  than  their  oppressors,  and  by 
their  own  acts  the  more  enslave  themselves. 
To  cherish  a  sense  of  injury — simply  nursing 
our  grievances — renders  it  the  more  difficult  for 
others  to  help  us,  or  for  us  to  help  ourselves, 
and  betrays  a  spirit  directly  opposed  to  the 
principles  of  true  religion,  which  require  us  to 
love  our  enemies.  This  love,  however,  is  not 
simply  an  emotional  impulse,  not  merely  sensual 
or  sentimental,  but  such  a  sense  of  what  is  wise, 
just,  and  merciful  as  leads  us  to  do  unto  others 
as  we  would  they  should  do  unto  us.  There  is 
always  a  way  by  which  we  may  right  our 
wrongs  without  wronging  others;  to  obtain 
justice  and  mercy  without  being  ourselves 
unjust  and  unmerciful.  "  Be  ye,  therefore, 
wise  as  serpents  and  harmless  as  doves"  (Matt. 
10:  16). 

While,  therefore,  Peter  and  John  knew  that 
the  rulers  of  the  people  with  whom  they  joined 
in  worship  were  hypocrites,  a  generation  of 
vipers,  who  shut  up  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven- 
against  men,  devoured  widows'  houses,  and  for 
pretense  made  long  prayers,  they  yet  united 
with  them  in  the  public  devotions,  and  partook 
with  them  of  the  bitter  herbs  and  unleavened 


44        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

bread  of  their  fastings.  As  the  temple  was  the 
house  of  God,  they  would  not  voluntarily  per- 
mit themselves  to  be  debarred  from  its  privi- 
leges by  the  hypocrisies  of  those  who  had  made 
it  a  den  of  thieves.  They  did  not  judge  its  re- 
ligion by  the  men  who  professed  it,  nor  did  they 
reject  it  for  the  corruptions  and  perversions  to 
which  it  had  been  subjected,  but  as  true  social- 
ists and  reformers  they  cherished  it  as  the  em- 
bodiment of  the  essential  and  fundamental 
elements  of  progress,  without  which  social  im- 
provement was  impossible.  So  far  from  cherish- 
ing any  personal  resentments,  or  indulging  in 
morbid  reflections,  they  were  intent  only  on 
promoting  the  true  interests  of  all  men  without 
respect  to  class  prejudices  or  unjust  distinctions 
of  any  kind.  They  were  moved  only  by  the 
spirit  of  love  and  sympathy  that  had  caused 
their  Master  to  weep  over  Jerusalem,  and  had 
wrung  from  him  in  his  agony  tears  and  bloody 
sweat.  The  incorrigible  bigotry  and  self- 
righteousness  of  the  Pharisees,  the  sceptic  con- 
ceit of  the  Sadducees,  the  selfish  and  heartless 
arrogance  of  the  affluent,  and  the  sincerely 
blind  ignorance  and  superstition  of  the  common 
people,  though  regarded  with  the  utmost  aver- 
sion, excited  no  personal  resentment,  but  on  the 
contrary  personal  compassion,  regarding  them. 


THE    SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OP   RELIGION.  45 

as  personal  infirmities  and  as  the  self-inflicted 
penalties  resulting  from  transgressions  in  spirit 
of  the  social  laws  of  God.  Otherwise — as  is  true 
of  many  who  profess  Christianity — they  would 
have  made  no  efforts  and  sacrifices  for  the  re- 
demption of  the  world  from  social  oppression, 
but  deeming  themselves  secure  of  salvation  in 
their  own  personal  righteousness  would  have 
sought  refuge  from  persecution  in  the  obscurity 
of  their  humble  calling  as  fishermen  on  the 
shores  of  Galilee.  Moreover,  as  social  beings 
they  knew  they  were  personally  responsible  to 
God  for  the  social  conditions  of  others  as  well 
as  their  own ;  for  the  wrong,  ignorance,  and  op- 
pression that  then  existed — even  for  the  bigotry 
and  hypocrisy  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees. 
No  person  can  avoid  personal  responsibility  by 
indifference — for  the  errors  and  sufferings  of  the 
world  by  hiding  himself  from  the  world;  for 
the  corruptions  and  perversions  of  religion  by 
ceasing  to  be  religious.  Such  a  course  would 
be  simply  suicidal,  the  destruction  of  one's  own 
social  nature. 

As  true  religion  represents  the  conscience  and 
will  of  God  in  the  right  adjustment  of  social  re- 
lations, we  are,  if  irreligious,  living  in  rebellion 
to  his  authority.  It  is  not  enough  that  one 
should  be  in  his  private  character  what  he 


46        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

should  be ;  for  having  also  a  social  character 
he  is  required  to  make  that  also  what  it  should 
be — which  is  impossible  to  irreligion ;  for  re- 
ligion, being  the  natural  bond  of  union,  requires 
all  to  live  in  recognition  and  promotion  of  each 
other's  rights  and  interests.  Nor  is  it  enough 
that  one  should  be  religious  simply  in  a  popular 
sense,  if  thav  6e  a  corruption  of  the  natural  and 
original  sense. 

The  spirit,  therefore,  that  animated  Peter  and 
John,  when  they  went  up  into  the  temple  to 
pray,  was  that  of  reconciliation  of  man  with 
God,  and  of  man  with  man.  They  were  not 
blind  bigots,  liberal  hypocrites,  nor  sincerely 
ignorant  devotees.  They  did  not  believe  that 
the  murderers  of  their  Master  were  so  utterly  de- 
praved that  they  were  past  all  possibility  of  re- 
demption from  the  awful  thralldom  of  guilt  and 
social  suffering  in  which  they  were  involved, 
but  that  some  at  least  might  be  brought  to  re- 
pentance, and  that  ultimately  society  might  at- 
tain perfect  unity  and  harmony  in  the  conscious- 
ness and  will  of  God. 

Such  was  their  social  ideal,  their  dream  and 
prophecy  of  better  things  to  come,  that  had 
been  inspired  in  their  minds  by  the  teachings 
and  example  of  their  Master,  in  which  they  so 
firmly  believed  and  trusted  that  they  had  no 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA  OF    RELIGION.  47 

hesitation  in  devoting  their  lives  to  its  realiza- 
tion in  social  life.  Corrupt  as  the  religion  of 
the  Jewish  people  had  become,  they  knew  that 
its  original  principles  were  true  and  practical, 
and  represented  the  universal  brotherhood  of 
man,  and  that  only  by  holding  fast  thereto  was 
social  redemption  possible.  They  were  reform- 
ers, not  iconoclasts.  Even  the  zeal  of  the 
Pharisees  (Rom.  10 :  2),  though  not  according  to 
knowledge,  and  blinded  by  obdurate  bigotry 
and  worldliness,  might  be  transformed  by  the 
renewing  of  their  minds  into  a  zeal  of  God,  an 
enthusiastic  devotion  to  him  in  the  love  of  truth 
and  righteousness ;  the  sceptic  liberality  of  the 
Sadducees,  though  rendering  them  hypocrites, 
might  be  converted  into  an  enlightened  and 
catholic  spirit;  and  the  sincere  but  ignorant 
superstition  of  the  common  people  might  be- 
come, when  enlightened,  an  earnest  aspiration 
for  a  higher  culture  in  the  freedom  and  knowl- 
edge of  God.  While  in  spirit  the  religion  of 
the  day  was  utterly  repugnant  to  them,  they 
yet  believed  it  to  have  come  originally  from 
God,  and,  like  those  who  had  corrupted  it, 
capable  of  reformation.  They  believed  in 
prayer — in  the  culture  of  human  aspirations 
whereby  we  may  learn  not  only  what  we  ought 
to  strive  for,  but  also  may  have  ability  to  at- 


48  THE  GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

tain.  But  while  they  prayed  in  the  spirit  of 
humility  and  charity,  those  who  knelt  beside 
them  prayed  in  the  spirit  of  worldly  pride  and 
selfishness.  They  hungered  after  righteous- 
ness, seeking  in  the  consciousness  of  their  own 
infirmities,  and  in  compassion  for  the  sufferings 
of  their  fellow-men,  their  own  personal  exalta- 
tion in  the  exaltation  of  the  whole  human  fam- 
ily, while  others  who  thronged  in  at  the  Beau- 
ful  Gate  were  intent  chiefly  upon  the  promotion 
of  their  own  private  and  selfish  interests. 

Now  in  our  day,  although  the  religious  con- 
science of  society  is  greatly  improved  from  what 
it  was  when  Peter  and  John  went  up  into  the 
temple  at  the  hour  of  prayer,  it  is  yet  very 
far  from  the  practical  realization  of  their  social 
ideal.  Religion  is  still  more  in  the  letter  than 
in  the  spirit.  The  bigoted  leaven  of  the  Phar- 
isees, the  liberal  hypocrisy  of  the  Sadducees, 
and  the  sincerely  ignorant  superstition  of  the 
masses,  are  yet  potent  influences  in  our  social 
life,  and  vitiate  our  religious  faith.  In  fact  re- 
ligion is  still  so  corrupt,  so  perverted  in  nature 
and  art,  that  many  sincere  and  earnest  reform- 
ers have  come  to  regard  it  as  a  stumbling  block, 
a  rock  of  offence  in  the  progress  of  social  re- 
demption, an  ally  of  oppression  and  a  foe  to  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  man.  Impatient  of  its 


THE   SOCIALISTIC  IDEA   OF   RELIGION.  49 

restraints,  those  who  are  conscious  of  social  op- 
pression are  prone  to  resort  to  other  and  some- 
times violent  methods  of  reform.  New  social 
theories  have  been  developed,  whereby  liberty, 
equality,  and  fraternity,  are  sought  to  be  at- 
tained without  its  aid,  and  in  some  of  which 
there  is  even  no  recognition  of  God. 

All  of  these  theories,  however,  are  necessarily 
untrue  and  impracticable  in  the  present,  or  in- 
deed in  any  possible  social  condition,  for  any 
theory  which  ignores  religion  ignores  the  essen- 
tial principles  of  our  social  well-being.  Any 
that  arrays  one  class  against  another  in  inter- 
ests— the  poor  against  the  rich,  the  employee 
against  his  employer,  or  the  reverse — however 
great  the  wrongs  one  class  suffers  from  another 
—is  plainly  contrary  to  social  unity,  and  prac- 
tically tends  to  social  chaos  and  the  destruction 
of  human  obligations  and  rights.  But  as  every 
theory  must  and  will  inevitably  fail  that  is  not 
religious,  being  in  conflict  with  the  conscious- 
ness and  will  of  God,  so  too,  will  every  reli- 
gious theory  fail,  if  not  practically  applied  both 
in  letter  and  spirit — in  which  case  it  may  not 
only  be  utterly  useless,  but  also  positively  in- 
imical to  our  social  well-being — being  incapable 
of  practical  effort  or  of  human  sympathy  ;  a 
form  of  godliness,  but  denying  the  power 


50         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

thereof  (2  Tim.  3:5);  nominally  Christian, 
but  really  a  demoniac  full  of  the  evil  spirits  of 
worldliness,  bigotry,  intolerance,  selfishness,  and 
superstition. 


PART  H. 

THE  SOCIALISTIC   IDEA  OP  THE  TEMPLE. 

THE  temple  at  Jerusalem  represented  the  re- 
ligious culture  of  the  Jewish  people,  a  family 
that  dated  its  origin  from  the  beginning  of  the 
historic  period  of  our  race ;  and  this  culture, 
though  very  much  corrupted  when  Peter  and 
John  went  up  thereto  at  the  hour  of  prayer, 
was  no  doubt  coeval  with  the  existence  of  the 
family.  Whether,  as  was  supposed  by  the  peo- 
ple, and  as  Peter  and  John  doubtless  believed, 
it  was  a  special  revelation  of  God,  or  a  natural 
evolution  and  development,  it  is  not  necessary 
to  affirm  or  deny ;  but  that  it  was  true  religion 
we  do  not  hesitate  to  assert.  Assuming,  as  we 
have,  that  there  is  one  only  living  and  true 
God,  and  that  in  him  are  all  primary  elements 
of  Being — of  Substance,  Nature,  and  Art,  which 
are  the  limitless  sources  of  all  revelation,  char- 
acter, and  construction — natural  differs  from 
revealed  religion  only  as  our  uncultured  intu- 
itions differ  from  our  cultured,  the  one  being 
evolved  of  our  nature  only,  and  the  other  also 

51 


52         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

of  our  art  specially  inspired  of  the  Divine 
Conscience,  whereby  our  nature  is  improved, 
the  gifts  of  prophecy  imparted,  higher  ideals  of 
life  conceived,  and  we  are  in  spirit  quickened  to 
increased  aspirations  for  knowledge,  power,  life, 
and  happiness. 

Like  all  things  else,  whether  naturally  or  ar- 
tificially evolved,  religion  must  have  successive 
stages  of  development,  which  may  be  defined 
under  three  heads : — the  intuitive,  in  which  men 
are  directed  and  controlled  by  the  social  in- 
stincts of  their  nature,  and  with  little  or  no  re- 
flection ;  the  disciplinary,  in  which  social  obli- 
gations are  intellectually  recognized,  defined, 
and  enforced ;  and  the  spiritual,  in  which  men 
through  the  enlightenment  of  their  conscience 
and  the  improvement  of  their  nature  are  no 
longer  subject  to  discipline,  but  voluntarily  ful- 
fill in  love  that  which  otherwise  they  are  con- 
strained to  do  only  by  compulsion.  As  com- 
monly understood,  these  are  the  natural,  the 
moral,  and  the  spiritual  stages  of  religious  de- 
velopment. 

The  Temple  represented  the  second  or  moral 
stage,  wherein  social  obligations  are  consciously 
recognized,  defined,  and  classified,  in  what  is 
called  the  Moral  Law.  This  law,  though  par- 
tially developed  in  the  religions  of  all  people 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OF   THE   TEMPLE.  53 

who  have  made  any  advancement  iu  social  cul- 
ture beyond  their  natural  instincts,  has  never 
been  fully  and  systematically  denned  by  any 
except  the  Abrahamic  family,  which,  in  remote 
times,  and  in  an  age  of  seemingly  little  con- 
sciousness, embodied  all  the  primary  and  essen- 
tial principles  of  morality  in  what  are  known  as 
the  Ten  Commandments.  How  this  family 
could  have  so  thoroughly  analyzed  man's  social 
nature,  and  so  accurately  denned  its  moral 
obligations,  in  the  rude  state  of  its  culture, 
which  the  wisest  philosophers  among  the  most 
cultured  people  of  subsequent  times  have  been 
unable  to  do,  we  cannot  explain,  except  it  were, 
as  asserted  in  the  ancient  traditions  of  the 
family,  by  a  special  revelation  of  God.  But 
however  that  may  be,  we  may  assume  that  it  is 
what  it  purports  to  be,  since  it  is  now  univer- 
sally accepted  as  such,  and  no  critic  has  been 
able  to  detect  any  error  or  omission  therein,  or 
suggest  any  addition  or  qualification.  It  ap- 
pears absolutely  faultless  and  complete. 

The  First  Article  of  this  code  affirms  the  be- 
ing of  one  only  living  and  true  God  as  the  sole 
and  ultimate  source  of  all  personal  and  social 
obligations  and  rights.  "  Thou  shalt  have  no 
other  Gods  before  me,"  is  not,  however,  an 
arbitrary  and  tyrannical  assertion  of  authority, 


54         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

but  the  enunciation  and  teaching  of  the  primary 
and  fundamental  principle  of  all  true  philoso- 
phy, upon  which  our  social  improvement  and 
well-being  depend;  for  unless  there  were  ulti- 
mate and  absolute  authority  there  could  not  be 
intrinsic  truths,  rights,  or  obligations,  and  all 
conceptions  of  goodness,  happiness,  or  beauty 
would  be  wholly  fanciful  and  fictitious.  By 
ultimate  and  absolute  we  mean  that  which  is 
and  of  the  Infinite,  which  has  no  beginning 
nor  ending,  and  in  its  ceaseless  continuity  rep- 
resents a  perfect  and  invariable  standard  of 
whatever  is,  may,  must,  and  ought  to  be.  And 
this  idea  of  the  absolute  is  necessarily  of  an 
Infinite  Person ;  for  otherwise  the  idea  of  abso- 
lute right  could  not  exist  in  our  personal  con- 
science. Except  the  source  of  our  personal 
conscience  were  itself  personally  conscious  it 
could  not  confer  personal  conscience.  Nor 
could  it  confer  personal  rights  except  it  were 
personally  capable  of  apprehending  what  right- 
eousness is. 

Now  the  idea  of  an  Infinite  Person  from 
whom  our  rights  are  derived,  and  by  whom  our 
obligations  are  imposed,  is  necessarily  com- 
munistic, being  the  consciousness  of  our  de- 
pendence, and  reliance  upon  higher  powers, 
wherein  it  is  not  possible  for  us  to  live  unto 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OP   THE   TEMPLE.  55 

ourselves  alone ;  and  in  this  consciousness  is 
our  first  conception  of  religion,  of  social  rights 
and  opportunities  conferred,  and  of  correspond- 
ing obligations  and  duties  imposed  thereby. 
As  is  the  infant's  first  recognition  of  the  au- 
thority of  its  parents,  of  its  dependence  upon 
them,  and  of  the  unity  of  its  interests  with 
theirs,  so  is  man's  first  recognition  of  his  rela- 
tions with  God.  Denial  of  such  relations  in 
anything  we  do  or  neglect  to  do  is  the  begin- 
ning of  transgression  and  the  origin  of  sin.  If, 
therefore,  we  seek  to  cultivate  and  improve  our 
social  conditions,  we  must  base  our  social  phi- 
losophy upon  this  first  and  fundamental  princi- 
ple of  the  moral  law,  that  there  is  one  only 
living  and  true  God,  in  whose  supreme  Con- 
sciousness and  Will  originate  all  social  rights, 
duties,  and  authorities. 

The  Second  Article  affirms  the  sinfulness  of 
idolatry — defined  as  the  making  unto  ourselves, 
as  an  object  of  worship,  any  graven  image  or 
likeness  of  any  existing  thing  in  heaven  above, 
in  the  earth  beneath,  or  in  the  water  under  the 
earth. 

Making  to  ourselves,  as  an  object  of  worship, 
any  image  or  likeness  of  any  existing  thing,  is 
either  constructing  such  image  or  likeness,  or 
converting  from  its  natural  use  any  existing 


56         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

thing.  Thus  the  construction  of  a  golden  calf 
for  an  object  of  worship,  or  the  converting  of  a 
living  calf  into  such  object,  is  making  to  our- 
selves an  idol.  And  as  everything  in  heaven 
above,  or  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  in  the  water 
under  the  earth — whether  of  man's  or  of  God's 
creation — may  in  this  way  become  an  idol, 
every  good  gift  we  receive  or  rightfully  ac- 
quire, if  we  bow  down  to  it  and  worship  it, 
may  be  perverted  to  evil.  True  worship  is  the 
culture  of  true  religion — of  the  love  of  God  and 
our  fellow-men — but  the  one  may  be  perverted 
into  the  culture  of  false  religion,  and  the  other 
into  the  self-love  which  is  disobedience  to  God 
and  hatred  of  our  fellow-men.  All  things  that 
exist — that  is,  are  made  manifest — exist  of  and 
in  the  Being  of  God,  and  are  his  creatures,  and 
to  worship  the  creature  rather  than  the  Creator 
(Rom.  1 :  25)  reverses  the  natural  order  of  wor- 
ship, and  debases  the  character  and  quality  of 
our  natural  life.  And  as  our  natural  life  is  our 
religious  life,  derived  from  its  unity  with  the 
life  of  God,  and  lived  in  harmony  with  his  con- 
science and  will,  we  cannot  be  religious — har- 
moniously united  with  God  and  each  other — if 
we  subject  ourselves  to  inferior  things,  whether 
such  subjection  be  by  the  worship  of  an  inferior 
faculty  or  desire  in  body  or  mind — which  is 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA    OF   THE    TEMPLE.  57 

sensuality,  or  of  our  whole  being  to  an  inferior 
being — which  is  personal  thralldom. 

There  is  a  natural  and  just  order  of  priority 
— in  all  true  relations  (Rom.  13:  7),  each  thing 
that  exists  being  dependent  upon  a  superior, 
and  though  each  has  merits  and  rights  in  its 
degree,  and  is  worthy  of  just  consideration  and 
respect,  it  is  not  to  be  made  equal  to  that  which 
is  superior  to  itself  (John  8 :  54).  Age,  posi- 
tion, culture,  abilities,  riches  in  all  things  of 
intrinsic  value,  if  lawfully  acquired  and  used 
for  unselfish  purposes,  are  entitled  to  respect, 
yet  if  worshipped  as  supreme,  or  as  superior  to 
better  things,  such  worship  is  idolatry.  True 
worship  is  the  recognition  of  merits  in  their 
natural  order,  and  leads  up  to  the  recognition 
of  God  as  the  supreme  source  of  all  merits,  that 
is  of  whom  all  merits  exist.  Merit  is  author- 
ity, and  the  proper  recognition  of  authority  is 
obedience,  and  the  culture  of  obedience  is  true 
worship. 

Though  we  profess  to  believe  in  the  one  only 
living  and  true  God,  yet  worship  him  not  in 
spirit  and  in  truth,  not  having  a  true  idea 
of  what  he  is,  that  is,  what  his  merits  are, 
we  are  manifestly  idolaters.  In  this  way  even 
God  may  become  to  us  only  an  idol,  being 
in  our  conception  of  him  converted  into  an  in- 


58         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

ferior  being — our  faith  merely  a  sectarian  creed, 
fetish,  or  shibboleth  of  man's  device,  our  hope 
only  a  selfish  aspiration  to  save  ourself,  and  our 
charity  only  a  matter  of  almsgiving. 

Whether  we  engrave  a  fancied  image  of  God 
in  wood  or  stone,  or  draft  theological  symbols 
representing  our  own  fanciful,  eccentric,  big- 
oted, and  superstitious  ideas  of  him,  we  are 
equally  idolaters — having  "  changed  the  glory  of 
the  incorruptible  God  into  an  image  made  like 
to  corruptible  man"  (Rom.  1:  23).  If  we  are 
bigoted  or  superstitious,  selfish,  not  willing  to 
give  as  we  receive,  uncharitable,  not  willing  to 
share  equally  with  others  in  our  opportunities, 
so  is  the  God  we  worship.  "  Know  ye  not  that 
to  whom  ye  yield  yourselves  servants  to  obey, 
his  servants  ye  are  to  whom  ye  obey,  whether 
of  sin  unto  death  or  of  obedience  unto  right- 
eousness?" (Ro.  6:  16). 

What  is  true  of  God  is  also  true  of  his  re- 
ligion— it  may  become  to  us  practically  only  a 
worship  of  idols — its  Temple  or  Church  only  a 
nursery  of  superstitions — not  of  God,  but  of 
selfish,  unloving,  world-minded  men.  To  sup- 
pose that  religion  is  only  a  matter  of  rites  and 
ceremonies,  of  sensations  and  sentimentalisms, 
and  not  a  culture  of  eternal  principles  of  unity 
between  God  and  man,  and  man  and  man,  is  to 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OF   THE   TEMPLE.  59 

make  such  culture  only  a  worship  of  false  gods. 
As  a  man  is  as  he  tbinketh  in  his  heart  (Prov. 
23  :  7),  so  is  he,  if  he  be  a  worshipper  of  the 
God  of  this  world  (2  Cor.  4 :  4),  an  idolater, 
even  if  he  calls  the  one  only  living  and  true 
God  his  God.  Doubtless  there  is  no  greater 
idolatry  than  that  which  is  cloaked  under 
the  image  or  likeness  of  true  religion.  Thus 
the  Temple  of  God  became  a  den  of  thieves 
who  worshipped  Mammon  rather  than  God 
(Matt.  6 :  24).  Anti-christ  is  called  the  Christ 
(1  John  2 :  18)  ;  the  friendship  of  the  world, 
friendship  with  God  (James  4 :  4) ;  a  world- 
minded  congregation,  a  church — which  is  falling 
down  and  worshipping  Satan  (Rev.  2 :  9). 
Every  one  of  the  Ten  Commandments  is  made 
an  idol,  if  selfishly  interpreted,  and  not  in  the 
spirit  and  truth  of  God  (John  4:  23),  of  obedi- 
ence, brotherly  kindness,  and  charity.  In  short 
all  idolatry  is  selfishness,  and  all  selfishness  idol- 
atry— a  yielding  to  the  temptations  of  the  world, 
the  flesh,  and  the  devil  (Matt.  4:  1-11). 

Again  what  we  call  patriotism,  devotion  to 
one's  country,  may  be  and  no  doubt  largely  is 
idolatrous, — always  is,  in  fact,  if  it  be  selfish 
and  exclusive.  For  only  so  far  as  fatherhood 
in  our  native  land  is  Fatherhood  in  God, — that 
is,  only  so  far  as  our  Government  recognizes 


60         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

the  authority  of  God  and  exercises  such  author- 
ity,— is  it  a  true  Government,  and  are  we 
patriotic  in  our  devotion  thereto.  Otherwise 
it  is  tyranny,  and  our  worship  thereof  a  debas- 
ing idolatry,  the  sundering  of  our  natural  and 
religious  bond  of  union  with  God,  and  the 
separating  of  ourselves  from  the  source  whence 
we  derive  all  personal  and  social  rights  and 
liberties.  To  obey  voluntarily,  therefore,  a 
civil  ruler  who,  though  superior  in  power  to 
ourselves,  is  himself  disobedient  to  God,  or  to 
voluntarily  submit  to  social  laws  and  conditions 
that  are  in  conflict  with  the  consciousness,  and 
will  of  God,  is  the  worship  of  false  gods. 
Willingly  to  acquiesce  in  social  evils,  to  con- 
sent to  be  wronged  or  to  wrong  others,  renders 
us  personally  responsible  therefor.  Yet  in  our 
resistance  thereto  we  may  not  ourselves  violate 
the  supreme  conscience  and  will.  We  may  be 
compelled  to  suffer  for  a  time,  but  we  may 
never  willingly  submit  to  usurpation, — and  all 
government  is  usurpation  that  is  not  derived 
from  and  administered  in  harmony  with  the 
laws  of  God.  As  the  tares  may  be  permitted 
to  grow  with  the  wheat  until  the  harvest,  lest 
in  rooting  them  up  the  good  wheat  be  de- 
stroyed (Matt.  13 :  29),  so  unjust  laws  may 
not  be  abrogated  by  violence,  if  those  which 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OF   THE   TEMPLE.  61 

are  just  are  to  perish  with  them,  and  anarchy- 
result. 

The  Third  Article,  forbidding  the  name  of 
God  to  be  used  in  vain,  affirms  that  we  may 
neither  assume  an  authority  as  from  God  which 
he  has  nut  conferred,  nor,  if  conferred,  use  it 
wantonly  or  oppressively.  All  rightful  author- 
ity is  derived  from  a  superior  power,  and  ulti- 
mately from  the  one  supreme  and  therefore  ab- 
solute power  of  God,  and  must  be  exercised  in 
conformity  with  his  conscience  and  will  for  the 
protection  and  promotion  of  social  rights  and 
interests.  If,  therefore,  one  have  authority 
from  God  to  rule  others,  as  the  parent  the 
child,  he  will  use  it  in  vain  if  he  does  not  use 
it  for  the  good  of  those  he  governs.  This 
principle  applies  to  the  proper  adjustment  of 
all  social  relations.  Each  social  position, 
privilege,  or  possession  any  individual  enjoys 
must  be  used  for  the  good  of  others  equally  as 
for  his  own  ;  for  otherwise — if  there  be  not 
community,  and  any  person  selfishly  assert  ex- 
clusive rights  in  any  good  gifts  of  God — what- 
ever he  possesses  becomes  an  instrument  of 
oppression,  is  used  selfishly  or  capriciously,  is 
a  vain  assumption  of  rights,  and  is  blasphemy 
against  God.  Thus  if  one  person  or  combina- 
tion of  persons  be  possessed  of  great  wealth, 


62         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

and  claims  that  because  God  gave  him  power 
to  acquire  it,  he  has  a  right  to  use  it  for  his  own 
exclusive  benefit,  and  oppresses  the  poor,  this 
is  taking  God's  name  in  vain.  The  same  is  true 
of  one  who,  though  poor  in  purse,  is  strong  in 
mind  or  body,  and — especially  if  possessed  of 
education  and  skill — monopolizes  and  devotes 
these  gifts  to  his  own  exclusive  benefit.  If  one 
simply  uses  the  name  of  God  to  emphasize  or 
establish  what  is  foolish  as  wise,  or  false  as 
true,  he  is  guilty  of  blasphemy,  And  this  is 
especially  true  of  a  perverted  religious  faith, 
which  dogmatically  and  arbitrarily  asserts  and 
enforces  as  a  truth  of  God  that  which  is  either 
false,  uncertain,  or  not  essential  to  our  salvation 
— thereby  limiting  the  opportunities  and  possi- 
bilities of  social  redemption.  And  finally  if  one 
uses  the  moral  law,  or  any  other  law,  to  dis- 
guise his  own  inconsistencies  or  hypocrisies, 
saying,  "  thou  shalt  not  steal,"  when  he  himself 
is  a  thief;  or  "  thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery," 
when  he  himself  is  an  adulterer  ;  or  makes  his 
boast  in  the  law  which  he  himself  transgresses, 
he  dishonors  the  name  of  God  (Rom.  2:  21-23). 
The  Fourth  Article  affirms  the  duty,  neces- 
sity, and  opportunity  of  devoting  one  day  in 
seven  to  rest  and  the  culture  of  holiness.  Not, 
however,  that  there  need  or  should  be  only  one 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OP   THE   TEMPLE.  63 

day  in  seven  of  rest  and  holiness,  for  in  a  per- 
.  feet  social  state  all  days  are  restful  and  holy, 
but  that  such  rest  and  holiness  are  the  natural 
evolution  of  good  works  and  right  religious 
culture,  and  represent  social  conditions  in  har- 
mony with  the  consciousness  and  will  of  God. 
This  is  evident  from  the  concluding  words  of 
this  article — "/or  in  six  days  the  Lord  made 
heaven  and  earth,  the  sea  and  all  that  in  them 
is,  and  rested  the  seventh  day ;  wherefore  the 
Lord  blessed  the  seventh  day  and  hallowed  it." 
As  the  seventh  period  in  the  cycle  of  the 
world's  evolution  from  chaos  for  the  abode  of 
Man  represented  a  complete  and  perfect  work, 
so  every  seventh  day  in  the  process  of  man's 
social  redemption  from  sin  is  made  in  this 
article  of  the  moral  law  a  perpetual  symbol,  re- 
membrance, prophecy,  and  promise  of  its  ulti- 
mate completion  and  realization.  What  our 
true  social  ideal  should  be — the  mark  set  before 
us — is  an  ultimate  condition  of  rest  and  holi- 
ness ;  and  the  true  and  practical  observance  of 
the  sabbath — so  far  as  our  oppressed  condition 
will  permit — is  in  our  efforts  to  realize  such 
ideal. 

So  far  and  so  long  as  we  can  and  do  re- 
member the  sabbath  day  and  keep  it  holy,  there 
is  a  reasonable  hope  of  our  ultimate  and  com- 


64         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

plete  redemption, — hope  that  we  may  finally  be 
redeemed  from  the  otherwise  perpetual  toil  and 
bondage  to  which  we  are  subjected.  If  for  one 
day  in  seven  we  may  rest,  it  is  plainly  possible 
for  us  to  rest  every  day.  If  for  one  day  we  may 
be  holy — that  is  pure  in  spirit  and  in  truth — so 
may  we  ever  be  undefiled  by  selfishness  and 
sin.  The  true  idea  of  rest  is  not  cessation  from 
all  activities  and  works — though  in  our  corrupt 
social  condition,  in  which  we  are  subjected  to 
constant  and  excessive  toil,  it  is  thus  interpreted 
and  limited — but  relief  from  such  enforced  and 
oppressive  labors  as  repress  and  limit  freedom, 
life,  and  enjoyment — such  rest  as  the  slave 
naturally  feels  when  emancipated  from  the 
thralldom  of  debasing  and  cruel  servitude.  So 
also  the  true  idea  of  holiness  is  not  austerity, 
but  cheerfulness  and  health  of  mind  and  body, 
purity  and  spirituality,  sensibility  of  grace  and 
gratitude  toward  God,  and  of  brotherly  kind- 
ness. 

Such  rest  and  holiness  we  may  feel  and  cul- 
tivate in  God's  appointed  sabbaths;  and  the 
more  we  realize  their  influence  in  our  everyday 
life,  the  freer  and  happier  will  our  social  con- 
ditions become,  until  all  selfishness  and  oppres- 
sion cease,  and  our  life  becomes  a  continual 
sabbath. 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OF   THE   TEMPLE.  65 

Our  nature  is  both  animal  and  spiritual, 
and  it  is  essential  to  our  well-being  that  these 
two  elements  should  be  harmonious  and  rightly 
balanced,  as  in  God  are  his  nature  and  art. 
Man  does  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every 
word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God 
(  Matt.  4:4),  and  hence  may  not  devote  his 
time  and  labors  unduly  to  the  promotion  of 
material  interests  (  Rom.  8:6).  The  law  that 
correlates  natural  forces  maintains  harmony  also 
in  those  which  are  spiritual — these  two  being 
correlatives,  not  differing  from  each  other  at  all 
in  principles  (  Eph.  2  :  21,  22  ) — what  is  law  in 
one  world  being  also  law  in  every  other  world. 
Essential,  therefore,  as  are  our  secular  interests, 
our  spiritual  interests  may  not  lawfully  be  sac- 
rificed thereto ;  and  if  either  voluntarily  or  by 
compulsion  we  devote  ourselves  wholly  or 
chiefly  to  the  procurement  of  our  daily  bread — 
especially  if  we  seek  to  accumulate  more  than 
is  essential  to  our  healthful  necessities — we  are 
brutalized  thereby. 

By  bread  we  mean  all  things  that  nourish 
and  strengthen  our  animal  nature,  although 
there  is  a  bread  which  in  like  manner  nourishes 
and  strengthens  our  spiritual  being,  and  which 
comes,  not  from  the  earth,  but  down  from 
heaven  (  John  6  :  32,  34  ).  Money,  food,  dress, 


66        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

and  shelter,  and  all  other  things  developed 
from  the  earth,  or  constructed  by  our  hands, 
are  bread  so  far  as  they  contribute  to  our  com- 
fort and  well-being  in  this  world,  and  are  real 
riches ;  but  like  the  manna  by  which  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  were  fed  in  the  wilderness,  they 
corrupt  if  we  accumulate  and  hoard  them 
beyond  what  our  immediate  necessities  require. 
As  the  love  of  money  is  a  root  of  all  evil 
(1  Tim.  6:  10),  so  the  love  of  bread  which 
money  procures — all  earthly  riches — has  become 
a  great  and  terrible  dissipation,  and  the  root  of 
well-nigh  all  social  evils.  We  call  its  culture 
business,  and  have  become  so  devoted  thereto 
that  we  regard  it  as  our  chiefest  virtue — so  de- 
voted that  we  bow  down  to  it  and  worship  it  as 
our  god,  make  it  the  chief  end  and  aim  of  life, 
that  for  which  we  live  and  die — no  person  being 
popularly  considered  "well  off"  while  he  lives 
or  when  he  dies,  unless  he  has  accumulated  and 
hoarded  more  than  is  essential  to  his  daily 
needs.  Having  thus  yielded  ourselves  body 
and  soul  to  the  first  temptation  of  Satan — to 
converting  stones  to  bread — we  have  thereby 
become  utterly  enslaved  to  him,  and  he  has  re- 
warded us  by  converting  us  into  a  society  of 
moths,  rusts,  and  thieves,  afflicted  us  with  a 
legion  of  devils  that  breed  innumerable  and 


THE   SOCIALISTIC  IDEA   OP   THE   TEMPLE.  6? 

tormenting  social  diseases  and  conditions  of 
suffering.  While  industrial  activity  is  no 
doubt  a  necessity  to  sinful  men — our  sins  hav- 
ing caused  the  earth,  from  which  we  derive  our 
physical  life,  as  a  natural  sequence  of  our  trans- 
gression of  natural  laws  to  bring  forth  thorns 
and  thistles,  having  cursed  the  earth  for  our 
sake,  and  compelled  us  to  eat  our  bread  in  the 
sweat  of  our  faces — there  is  yet  no  glory  in 
simply  toiling  to  live,  or  in  living  to  toil.  Ex- 
cessive labor  only  serves  to  aggravate  and  in- 
crease the  curse  imposed  upon  us  for  our  trans- 
gressions ;  and  for  this  reason  are  we  com- 
manded to  refrain  wholly  therefrom  one  day  in 
seven.  Yet  like  every  other  law,  if  it  be 
obeyed  only  in  the  letter  and  not  in  the  spirit, 
(  2  Cor.  3  :  6  ),  it  may  be  practically  annulled 
by  its  observance,  and  even  perverted  to  evil 
purposes.  Thus  it  may  be  observed  with  such 
austerity  as  to  become  burdensome  and  op- 
pressive, and  not  a  day  of  cheerfulness  and  re- 
laxation ;  or  with  such  excess  of  license  and 
self-indulgence  as  to  render  it  an  occasion  for 
dissipation  and  riotous  living.  As  the  sabbath 
was  made  for  man  and  not  man  for  the  sabbath 
(  Mark  2  :  27  ) — that  is,  for  his  use  and  not  his 
abuse,  for  his  freedom  and  not  his  enslavement, 
— anything  that  promotes  his  best  interests  is 


68        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

its  proper  observance,  and  anything  prejudicial 
thereto  is  in  violation  of  its  spirit.  It  is  the 
ideal  of  the  heavenly  rest — a  social  condition 
in  which,  when  attained,  though  it  be  one 
of  unbounded  freedom  and  activity,  there 
are  no  compulsory  and  enslaving  labors  (Rev. 
14:  13). 

But  if,  as  we  have  affirmed,  the  spirit  of  the 
sabbath  should  enter  into  our  everyday  life, 
we  may  violate  this  law  every  other  day  in  the 
week  as  well  as  on  the  seventh.  That  is,  the 
spirit  of  unrest  and  unholiness  may,  by  excess- 
ive devotion  to  business,  so  enter  into  our  life 
as  to  wholly  neutralize  the  spirit  of  the  sab- 
bath. In  fact,  society  may  and  does  devote 
itself  so  excessively  to  business  that  it  avails 
itself  of  the  sabbath  for  the  most  part  only  as 
a  means  of  continuing  such  excess — using  its 
rest,  as  it  uses  sleep,  for  the  purpose  only  of  re- 
cuperating its  exhausted  animal  life,  that  it  may 
indulge  the  more  in  its  business  dissipations. 
This  is  plainly  the  perversion  and  violation  of 
this  law — preventing  true  rest  and  holiness  be- 
coming the  fruits  of  its  labors.  As  like  nat- 
urally produces  like,  unnatural  devotion  to 
business  cannot  produce  natural  rest,  unholi- 
ness  holiness,  nor  social  enslavement  social 
freedom.  Hence,  if  we  would  approximate 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA    OP    THE    TEMPLE.  69 

that  perfect  social  condition  of  rest  and  holi- 
ness foreshadowed,  prophesied,  and  promised 
in  God's  sabbath,  we  must  limit  our  labors 
more  and  more,  until  there  is  no  excess  thereof 
beyond  what  our  actual  necessities  require. 
Doubtless  even  now,  sinful  as  the  world  is,  a 
few  hours  of  daily  labor  would  be  quite  suf- 
ficient to  supply  our  physical  comforts.  Any 
more  than  this,  therefore,  is  dissipation ;  and 
any  person  who  voluntarily,  from  motives  of 
avarice  and  cupidity,  devotes  himself  to  bus- 
iness more  than  is  essential  to  the  procurement 
of  his  daily  bread — or  any  person  who  requires 
others  dependent  upon  him  for  work  or  liveli- 
hood to  do  this — is  a  sabbath-breaker,  and  is 
also  guilty  of  the  transgression  of  every  other 
moral  law — even  though  he  observe  it  strictly 
in  the  letter  (Jas.  2:  10). 

The  Fifth  Article  affirms  the  social  duty  of  chil- 
dren to  honor  and  obey  their  parents.  Whatever 
in  a  true  sense  is  social  is  in  a  like  sense  just, 
rational,  and  moral,  and  is  derived  from  the 
Supreme  Authority.  The  authority  of  the  par- 
ent over  the  child,  being  derived  directly  from 
God  who  is  our  common  Father,  is  a  natural 
and  just  authority.  As  parents  are  themselves 
children,  and  as  children  become  parents,  all 
society  is  honored  if  children  honor  their  par- 


70        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

ents ;  and   on  the  other  hand  is  dishonored  if 
this  commandment  is  broken. 

By  honoring  parents  is  meant  obeying  and 
loving  them — responsiveness  to  their  grace  and 
loving  kindness  toward  us,  and  living  such  a 
life  as  shall  best  contribute  to  their  welfare, 
glory  and  happiness  in  us.  But  as  the  parent's 
authority  is  derived  wholly  from  God,  it  must 
be  exercised  in  a  just,  rational,  and  moral  way, 
or  it  will  become  tyrannical  and  cruel.  It 
must  be  in  harmony  with  the  consciousness  and 
will  of  God,  and  exerted  for  the  well-being  of 
the  child  and  the  best  interests  of  society. 
Otherwise  he  forfeits  his  authority,  and  should 
not  be  permitted  to  control  the  child.  He  can- 
not lawfully  be  capricious  or  selfish,  for  in  such 
case  he  dishonors  God,  society,  and  his  chil- 
dren, and  is  not  entitled  to  honor.  Moreover, 
since  the  infirmities  of  the  parent  are,  by  the 
natural  evolution  of  like  from  like,  transmitted 
to  the  child — else  what  is  good  in  the  parent 
could  not  be  transmitted  to  the  child — no  per- 
son has  a  right,  or  should  be  permitted,  to  be- 
come a  parent  if  he  be  unfitted  either  in  body 
or  mind  to  produce  reasonably  healthy  off- 
spring— such  as  are  equal  or  superior  to  the 
average  child  in  this  respect.  In  other  words, 
if  an  unnatural  parent  is  justly  deprived  of  his 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OB1   THE   TEMPLE.  71 

natural  right  to  the  control  of  his  child,  so  also 
is  every  person  of  vitiated  nature  justly  de- 
prived of  his  natural  right  to  become  a  parent. 
And  as  it  is  manifestly  impossible  for  children 
to  honor  dishonorable  parents — especially  when 
they  are  themselves  made  dishonorable  by  their 
parents — and  sc/ciety  is  composed  wholly  of 
parents  and  children,  it  is  absolutely  essential 
to  the  observance  of  this  commandment,  and 
of  primary  importance  in  the  promotion  of  our 
social  well-being,  that  parentage  should  be  im- 
proved— which  is  only  possible  by  the  improve- 
ment of  public  morality. 

While  therefore  this  fifth  commandment  is 
addressed  to  children,  it  is  operative  only  to 
the  degree  that  their  parents  are  moral  men 
and  women ;  and  as  children  become  parents, 
they  can  only  honor  their  parents  by  becoming 
themselves  moral  men  and  women.  But  mo- 
rality must  be  such  in  the  spirit  as  well  as  in 
the  letter.  Hence,  though  one  does  not  break 
the  letter  of  the  law,  yet  if  his  influence  in  so- 
ciety is  such  as  to  constrain  or  permit  others  to 
do  so,  he  is  a  transgressor.  One  may  even — 
and  this  is  by  no  means  uncommon — outwardly 
seek  to  promote  morality  in  the  community,  yet 
be  guilty  through  his  own  selfishness,  whereby 
many  are  reduced  to  poverty  and  doomed  to 


72        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

excessive  and  brutalizing  toil,  of  dishonoring 
his  parents  by  rendering  honorable  parentage 
in  others  impossible  ;  and  as  his  selfishness  ren- 
ders him  immoral  in  spirit,  and  subjects  him  to 
just  punishment,  he  cannot  himself  become  an 
honorable  parent  or  produce  healthy  offspring. 
But  while  excess  of  toil  is  unnatural  and  im- 
moral, it  is  not  more  unnatural  and  immoral 
than  the  idleness,  luxury,  and  extravagance 
which  produce  excessive  toil — every  man  being 
himself  a  brute  who  brutalizes  others. 

The  Sixth  Article  affirms  the  natural  right 
of  every  person  who  has  not  consciously  and 
wilfully  forfeited  this  right,  to  the  full  posses- 
sion and  enjoyment  of  natural  life.  And  this 
includes  all  social  privileges  and  means  by 
which  life  is  developed  and  cultured,  as  also  all 
its  varieties,  whether  physical,  mental  or  spir- 
itual. Life  is  limitless  in  God,  and  is  trans- 
mitted to  all  men  in  the  full  measure  of  their 
capacities  to  receive  and  enjoy.  Every  organ 
of  the  body,  as  also  every  faculty  of  the  mind, 
is  its  natural  receptacle  and  organ  of  trans- 
mission, and  to  destroy  these  is  to  cut  life  off 
from  this  world,  and  to  defeat  God's  purposes 
in  our  creation  and  existence  here.  Moreover, 
as  life  is  the  medium  of  all  activity,  joy,  and 
beauty, — of  every  perception,  emotion,  or  vo- 


THE   SOCIALISTIC    IDEA   OF   THE   TEMPLE.  73 

lition — its  destruction  is  the  complete  obliter- 
ation here  of  all  social  rights  and  possessions 
natural  or  acquired.  To  this  law  there  are  no 
exceptions  or  qualifications — understanding,  of 
course,  that  it  is  applied  only  for  the  protection 
of  those  who  obey,  every  transgression  nat- 
urally limiting  and  decreasing  our  capacity  to 
receive  or  retain  life. 

"  Thou  shalt  not  kill  "  prohibits  all  destruc- 
tion of  innocent  life,  though  one  life  may  be 
sacrificed  for  a  better  life,  in  which  case  it  is 
not  destroyed  but  exchanged,  whether  by  an 
individual  or  society — understanding  by  inno- 
cent life  one  that  is  not  itself  guilty  of  killing, 
either  directly  by  violence,  or  indirectly  by 
a  slow  process  of  repression ;  by  malice,  passion, 
indifference,  neglect  or  needless  ignorance.  Nor 
is  killing  limited  to  complete  destruction.  Any 
repression  of  life  that  prevents  the  free  exer- 
cise and  development  of  our  faculties  of  body 
or  mind,  either  by  imposing  thereon  unnatural 
burdens,  or  by  hindering  or  neglecting  their 
proper  nourishment  and  culture,  whereby  the 
increase  and  health  they  might  otherwise  attain 
are  not  realized,  is  violation  of  this  law.  In 
short  this  law  not  only  requires  society  to  pro- 
tect its  life  from  destruction  by  actual  violence, 
but  also  from  all  evil  influences  that  impair  its 


74  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

healthful  activities — from  unhealthful  sur- 
roundings and  unnatural  conditions  and  habits 
of  living ;  from  oppressive  systems  whereby  it 
is  dwarfed  and  brutalized ;  from  all  dissipa- 
tions and  excesses;  and  from  the  malignant 
spirits  of  pride,  envy,  cupidity  and  selfishness. 
The  Seventh  Article  requires  fidelity,  purity, 
and  stability  in  the  relations  of  husband  and 
wife.  Adultery  is  the  general  term  used  in  the 
bible  to  define  all  acts  or  impulses  that  tend  to 
the  vitiation  of  right  social  relations  as  or- 
dained in  the  natural  and  moral  laws  of  God, 
and  which  constitute  true  religion.  Hence  ir- 
religion  is  adulterous  (_  Jer.  3 :  8,  9 ;  Ezek. 
23 :  37  ;  Matt.  12 :  39 ;  2  Pet.  2 :  14)  ;  and  as 
marriage  is  a  primary  social  institution  or- 
dained of  God,  whereby  human  life  is  not  only 
evolved  and  perpetuated,  but  also  its  character 
mainly  determined,  this  article  is  introduced 
into  the  moral  code,  affirming  its  sacredness, 
and  prohibiting  unfaithfulness  to  its  obliga- 
tions. As  by  natural  law  like  produces  like, 
as  are  the  parents  so  are  the  children  in  their 
constitutions  and  dispositions  both  of  body  and 
mind  ;  and  though  children  after  birth,  may 
be  improved  by  art,  yet  as  the  foundation  of 
their  culture  thus  acquired  must  be  their 
natural  strength  and  character,  the  degree  of 


THE   SOCIALISTIC  IDEA   OF   THE   TEMPLE.  75 

their  possible  improvement  must  be  determined 
thereby.  That  is,  the  degree  of  culture  to 
which  children  may  attain  is  limited  by  the 
degree  of  physical  and  mental  power  they  in- 
herit from  their  parents ;  and  as  all  members  of 
society  are  children,  and  the  offspring  of  mar- 
riage, anything  whatever  that  tends  to  impair 
its  purity  and  stability  or  vitiate  its  character, 
is  in  the  highest  degree  detrimental  to  social 
interests. 

But  adultery  does  not  consist  simply  in 
infidelity  to  the  marriage  bonds  as  established 
by  civil  laws,  but  also  in  marriage  itself  when 
the  parties  thereto  are  united  from  any  other 
motive  or  principle  thereof  than  true  religion, 
which  is  the  theory  and  practice  of  love. 
Hence,  if  its  motive  is  merely  sensual,  mer- 
cenary, heedless  of  natural  and  moral  law,  or 
indifferent  to  parental  obligations  incurred 
thereby,  it  is  unlawful.  Adultery  consists  also 
in  depraved  social  conditions  which  impel 
thereto,  so  that  society  itself,  though  it  legal- 
izes marriage  and  punishes  transgression  of  the1 
letter  of  the  law,  is  itself  adulterous  by  per- 
mitting such  conditions  to  exist.  Cupidity, 
luxury,  and  extravagance,  and  the  correspond- 
ing conditions  of  thriftlessness,  squalor,  and  in- 
digency,  not  only  tend  to  limit  marriages 


76        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

among  all  classes,  but  also  to  so  disqualify  the 
sexes  therefor  as  to  render  them,  when  con- 
tracted, vicious  and  unstable.  The  present  in- 
stability is  not,  as  many  suppose,  mainly  the  re- 
sult of  laxity  in  the  civil  laws  whereby  mar- 
riage is  permitted  or  annulled,  but  is  sympto- 
matic of  our  vitiated  social  culture  and  condi- 
tion, and  can  only  be  remedied  by  the  practical 
application  of  the  principles  of  true  religion 
to  the  right  adjustment  of  social  relations. 

The  Eighth  Article,  prohibiting  theft,  affirms 
j,he  right  of  all  men  to  the  possession,  control, 
and  enjoyment  of  their  possessions  naturally 
and  lawfully  acquired.  Other  things  being 
equal,  the  natural  possessions  of  all  individuals 
— those  acquired  of  God,  and  those  naturally 
transmitted  from  parents  to  children — are 
equal.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  in  a  sinful 
world  other  things  are  not  equal,  some  persons 
being  more  experienced,  intelligent,  enterpris- 
ing, or  economical  than  others  ;  and  it  should 
be  manifestly  unnatural — nay,  absolutely  im- 
possible— that  some  should  not  possess  more 
than  others. 

Men  are  not  born  equal  in  capacities  or  op- 
portunities, nor  are  they  equally  disposed  to 
improve  their  capacities  and  opportunities  for 
increase.;  and  while  this  fact  does  not  permit 


THE   SOCIALISTIC    IDEA   OF   THE   TEMPLE.  77 

any  person  selfishly  to  possess  his  own,  it  ren- 
ders the  absolutely  equal  distribution  of  per- 
sonal wealth  impossible.  Nor  is  such  distri- 
bution to  be  desired.  As  individuality  cannot 
be  exclusive  of  sociality,  neither  can  individual 
possessions  be  exclusive  of  social  interests. 
The  wealth  of  society  is  the  aggregate  posses- 
sions of  the  individuals  that  compose  it ;  and 
as  by  society  all  persons  are  made  one,  there 
is  practically  in  a  right  condition  of  society  a 
social  equality  of  possessions,  the  poor  sharing 
equally  with  the  rich  according  to  their  ability 
to  receive  and  use  for  the  common  good  of 
all.  Hence,  if  society  be  rightly  constituted, 
no  wrong  or  oppression  can  arise  from  per- 
sonal inequalities  in  the  possessions  of  individ- 
ual members.  What  society  should  be  is  a 
moral  condition  in  which  there  is  no  theft — in 
which  the  theory  of  mutual  love,  which  is 
true  religion,  is  applied  and  practiced — of 
mutual  participation  in  our  natural  and  justly 
acquired  rights,  of  mutual  help,  and  the  unlim- 
ited freedom  of  each  member  in  the  increase  of 
his  possessions  and  capacities  for  enjoyment. 

Man,  therefore,  being  a  social  being,  his  right 
to  possess,  while  otherwise  limitless  is  not  ex- 
clusive— not  the  right  of  one  to  use  and  enjoy 
the  wealth  he  controls  to  his  own  exclusive 


78         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

use,  but  also  for  the  use  of  others  as  well  as  of 
himself.  In  fact,  to  the  degree  we  make  our 
right  to  possess  individual  and  exclusive  it 
ceases  to  be  right,  and  becomes  a  trespass  upon 
the  rights  ot  others.  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal," 
means  not  only  that  one  shall  not  rob  another 
of  his  property,  but  also  that  he  shall  not  limit 
another's  opportunity  and  right  to  acquire 
property.  That  is,  it  is  equally  theft  for  one 
citizen  to  prevent  his  fellow-citizen  from  ac- 
quiring riches,  as  it  is  to  deprive  him  of  that 
he  has  already  acquired.  To  the  degree  only 
that  I  feel  that  what  is  mine  is  also  yours  ac- 
cording to  my  ability  to  bestow,  and  yours  to 
receive,  am  I  a  moral  man.  The  moral  code 
we  are  considering  was  made  for  the  protection 
of  all  men  in  their  natural  rights,  and  not  by 
its  perversion  to  give  impunity  in  the  indul- 
gence of  selfishness  and  avarice.  The  natural 
power  to  acquire  riches  is  unlimited,  whether 
of  objective  possessions  or  of  subjective  capac- 
ities of  enjoying  them  ;  and  in  no  case  is  it 
essential  to  their  possession,  enjoyment,  and  in- 
crease that  one  member  or  class  of  society 
should  be  kept  poor  that  another  may  be  rich. 
In  fact  we  are  rich  only  to  the  degree  we  can 
and  do  make  others  rich  as  well  as  ourselves. 
Thus  if  one  be  strong  physically  or  mentally,  it 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OF   THE   TEMPLE.  79 

is  not  necessary  to  the  enjoyment  of  his 
strength  that  others  should  be  kept  weak — that 
he  should  enslave  them  and  make  their  strength 
tributary  to  his  own — to  compel  them  to  toil 
for  his  support  in  idleness,  luxury,  or  dissipa- 
tion. It  is  sufficient  that  he  has  the  greater 
power  to  help  himself  and  others ;  and  if  we 
were  unselfish,  the  richer  we  are  the  richer  also 
would  others  be.  Nay,  it  is  impossible  for  us 
to  be  rich  at  all,  except  we  be  rich  toward  God 
and  each  other  (Luke  12 :  15-21)  ;  for  no  per- 
son can  otherwise  save  his  riches  any  more 
than  he  can  his  own  soul  (Matt.  16 :  26).  Every 
selfish  person  is,  to  the  degree  of  his  selfish- 
ness, a  thief  and  an  enemy  of  society,  and  in 
rebellion  against  God. 

But  as  the  rich  man  who  oppresses  the  poor 
is  a  thief,  so  also  is  the  poor  man  who  by  lack 
of  enterprise  and  thrift  fails  to  improve  his 
natural  gifts  in  the  acquirement  of  riches,  or 
by  dissipation  wastes  and  squanders  them — 
thus  making  himself  an  unnecessary  burden 
upon  the  charities  of  society.  So  also  is  any 
man  a  thief,  whether  rich  or  poor,  who  is  un- 
charitable, unjust,  or  dishonest — does  not  give 
as  he  receives ;  pays  his  employee  less  than  he 
can  afford  to  give,  or  charges  his  employer  more 
than  his  just  wages;  sells  his  merchandise  for 


80         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

more  than  it  is  worth,  or  buys  for  less.  In 
short,  all  riches  must  be  accumulated  and  de- 
veloped by  the  exercise  and  use  of  our  natural 
gifts  of  God,  and  in  accordance  with  the  letter 
and  spirit  of  his  moral  laws,  or  their  possession 
is  unlawful. 

The  Ninth  Article  prohibits  our  bearing  false 
witness  against  our  neighbor.  Truth  is  the 
harmonious  relation  of  substance,  nature,  and 
art  to  each  other,  and  truthfulness  the  expres- 
sion of  such  harmonious  relation.  And  as 
Substance,  Nature,  and  Art  in  God  are  eternal 
and  invariable,  so  also  is  the  Truth  in  him,  and 
all  expressions  thereof.  So  far,  therefore,  as 
we  are,  in  the  elements  of  our  being,  in  har- 
mony with  God  are  we  true,  and  in  all  we  are, 
do,  or  feel  we  bear  witness  to  the  truth ;  but 
otherwise, — so  far  as  our  conditions,  individu- 
ally or  socially,  are  inharmonious — are  we  false 
witnesses. 

Lack  of  truth  is  lack  of  principle ;  and  lack  of 
principle  is  lack  of  completeness  and  harmony 
in  such  elements  of  our  being  as  are  essential 
to  our  well-being — to  health,  life,  freedom,  joy, 
beauty.  All  untruthfulness,  whether  of  words 
spoken  or  unspoken,  of  deeds  done  or  omitted 
to  be  done,  of  relations  or  conditions  personal 
or  social,  of  emotions  »f  sympathy  or  desire 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OF   THE   TEMPLE.  81 

felt  or  unfelt,  of  pride  or  envy,  of  letter  or 
spirit,  is  dishonest  and  bearing  false  witness 
against  our  neighbors ;  for  as  we  are  social 
beings  we  cannot  exist  without  being  examples 
to  each  other,  and  just  so  far  as  our  examples 
are  false  are  we  unsocial,  irreligious,  and  tres- 
passers upon  each  other's  rights.  In  short,  any- 
thing in  us  renders  us  liars  that  impairs  mutual 
faith  and  trust — any  dishonesty,  insincerity,  in- 
fidelity, unkindness,  selfish  pride,  envy,  or 
cupidity. 

The  Tenth  Article  forbids  us  to  covet  any- 
thing that  is  our  neighbor's.  Not  that  it  is 
wrong  to  covet,  for  a  covetous  motive  is  innate 
in  our  nature,  and  inspires  all  true  aspirations 
and  efforts  for  increase  in  possessions  and  en- 
joyments— and  we  are  exhorted  to  covet  earn- 
estly the  best  gifts  (1  Cor.  12 :  31)— but  that 
we  may  not  desire  to  deprive  others  of  any 
things  that  are  theirs. 

Interpreted  also  in  the  spirit,  this  article 
prohibits  us  not  only  from  desiring  to  deprive 
others  of  what  is  lawfully  theirs,  but  also  from 
seeking  to  prevent  their  possessing  such  things 
as  they  may  lawfully  acquire.  Thus,  if  I  am' 
poor,  and  my  neighbor  rich,  and  I  would  de- 
prive him  of  his  riches,  I  am  a  transgressor  of 
this  law ;  or  if  I  am  rich,  and  he  poor,  I  am 


82  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

equally  a  transgressor  if  I  would  deprive  him 
of  his  just  right  and  opportunity  of  becoming 
rich.  Being  mutually  and  naturally  dependent 
and  helpful,  we  cannot  rightfully  do  or  desire 
to  do  unto  others  anything  we  would  not  they 
should  do  unto  us.  And  while  there  is  no  limit 
placed  upon  the  just  accumulation  of  riches,  all 
increase  is  unlawful  which  is  acquired  through 
the  impoverishment  of  others. 

Covetousness  is  in  the  motive  or  spirit,  not 
in  act  or  letter.  But  when  perverted  to  selfish- 
ness, it  inspires  and  becomes  in  itself  the  trans- 
gression of  every  moral  law.  To  covet  and  to 
love  are  of  like  meaning,  differing  only  as  the 
true  spirit  of  the  law  differs  from  that  of  the 
gospel,  love  being  the  fulfillment  of  the  law. 
Hence,  as  love  is  the  crowning  virtue,  and  with- 
out love  there  is  no  virtue,  so  this  Tenth  Article 
of  the  moral  law  defines  the  crowning  principle 
of  morality,  without  which  there  is  no  morality. 
In  other  words,  without  the  spirit  of  unselfish 
aspirations  and  desires,  all  morality  is  but  as 
sounding  brass  and  a  tinkling  cymbal. 

Wherefore,  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments, we  find  selfish  covetousness  interpreted 
as  the  sum  of  all  vices — the  natural  spirit  of 
sociality  and  religion  perverted,  not  only  into 
the  spirit  of  indifference  to  the  welfare  of  oth- 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OP   THE   TEMPLE.  83 

ers,  but  also  of  cruelty  and  oppression — the  root 
of  all  avarice  and  lust,  of  idolatry  and  adultery, 
of  envy  and  pride,  of  murder  and  theft,  of 
bigotry  and  self-righteousness,  of  blasphemy, 
lying,  and  hypocrisy,  of  disobedience  and  re- 
bellion, of  slothfulness,  extravagance,  and  dissi- 
pation ;  in  short,  of  every  vicious  love,  of  which 
is  developed  vice  and  crime  (Ps.  10 :  2,  3 ;  Mic. 
2:  2;  Hab.2:  9,11;  Luke  12:  15-20;  16:14, 
15;  Rom.  7:  7,  8  ;  2  Pet.  2:  3). 

Such  in  brief  is  the  moral  law,  whereby,  in 
the  disciplinary  stage  of  human  culture,  are  de- 
fined and  enforced  our  just  social  obligations 
and  rights,  which  though  perverted  to  vain  and 
selfish  uses  by  the  people  with  whom  it  orig- 
inated, is  absolutely  essential  to  true  religion, 
and  a  just  community  of  social  interests. 


PART  III. 

THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

ALTHOUGH  the  law  of  man's  natural  intui- 
tions of  social  obligations  and  rights,  evolved  and 
developed  by  Divine  Art,  accurately  and  fully 
defines  such  obligations  and  rights,  it  does  not 
represent  the  highest  culture  of  religion.  As 
in  the  training  of  our  childhood  until  it  reaches 
the  age  of  discretion,  so  also  in  the  primary 
culture  of  the  human  race,  was  it  necessary 
that  it  should  be  subjected  to  discipline  until  it 
was  able  to  distinguish  between  right  and 
wrong,  and  to  choose  what  was  good  and  reject 
what  was  evil  (Gen.  2 :  16,  17  ;  Deut.  30 :  15, 
19).  And  necessarily  such  discipline  must  be 
by  instruction  in  the  principles  of  true  religion, 
and  by  the  practical  applications  of  such  prin- 
ciples in  the  enforcement  of  social  laws  founded 
thereon — religion  being  our  unity  with  God  as 
our  common  Father,  and  with  each  other  as 
brethren.  But  as  such  unity  must  exist  in  the 
spirit  as  well  as  in  the  letter — in  love  as  well 
as  in  law — it  is  plain  that  the  highest  culture 
84 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OF   THE   CHURCH.          85 

of  religion  cannot  be  attained  by  enforced 
obedience  to  God,  and  enforced  respect  to  each 
other's  rights,  but  by  voluntary  obedience  and 
respect — realized  only  in  unselfish  love  of  our 
Father  and  our  brother  men.  That  is,  unity  is 
complete  only  when  law  is  fulfilled  in  love  (Rom. 
13  :  10) — by  choice  rather  than  by  compulsion ; 
for  otherwise — so  long  as  the  law  is  fulfilled  by 
compulsion — there  is  fear,  and  fear  is  bondage 
(Rom.  8 :  15 ;  Heb.  2:  15);  and  as  in  true  re- 
ligion there  is  perfect  freedom  (John  8:  32; 
Rom.  8 :  21),  it  cannot  be  fully  realized  in  en- 
forced obedience  to  the  moral  law.  "  But  per- 
fect love  casteth  out  fear." 

Now  as  the  theory  and  practice  of  the  moral 
law  were  represented  in  the  Temple,  so  are  the 
theory  and  practice  of  love  represented  in  the 
Church,  in  the  extension  and  development  of 
which  Peter  and  John  were  pioneers.  They 
were  among  the  immediate  converts  and  disci- 
ples of  Jesus  the  Christ,  the  original  founder 
of  the  Church,  and,  in  advance  of  the  religious 
culture  of  their  day,  were  endeavoring  to  put 
in  practice  his  social  theory,  whereby  they  be- 
lieved all  oppression  would  be  put  away,  and 
all  men  dwell  together  in  the  love  of  God  and 
in  peace  and  good  will  toward  each  other.  Like 
all  other  true  theories,  this  had  previously 


86         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

existed  only  in  ideal  conceptions  evolved  of 
human  longings  and  aspirations,  inspired,  as  all 
such  longings  and  aspirations  must  naturally 
be,  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  the  source  of  all  pure 
idealisms, — in  dreams,  whisperings,  and  proph- 
ecies of  better  things  to  come ;  and  finally,  it 
is  believed,  practically  realized  in  our  social 
life  by  an  example  of  perfected  human  nature 
and  art,  a  God-Man  who  represented  in  person 
the  express  image  of  the  Father,  (Heb.  1 :  3) 
— which,  if  true,  is  conclusive  evidence  that  a 
like  perfection  of  nature  and  art  is  a  possibility 
of  attainment  by  every  member  of  the  human 
family. 

This  example,  therefore,  of  a  perfected  hu- 
man nature  and  art  was,  as  are  all  new  creations 
and  improvements,  a  natural  evolution  of  pre- 
ceding and  accompanying  social  conditions, 
since  whatever  is  is  necessarily  the  outcome  and 
continuity  of  what  has  been  before,  although 
nature — which  simply  perpetuates  itself — may 
be  so  improved  by  art  that  out  of  imperfection 
and  corruption  may  come  forth  perfection  and 
incorruption  (1  Cor.  13 :  9-12 ;  15  :  53). 

"  When  the  fullness  of  time  had  come " 
(Gal.  4 :  4,  5 ;  Eph.  1 :  10)— that  is,  when  it  be- 
came possible  by  previous  religious  culture  to 
realize  practically  the  prophetic  social  idea  of 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OF   THE   CHURCH.          87 

sonsLip  and  brotherhood  in  God,  and  its  "  glo- 
rious liberty " — there  was  evolved  a  human 
being  in  such  perfect  unity  in  substance,  nature 
and  art  with  the  Divine,  that  he  was  justly  re- 
garded by  his  followers,  and  practically  was, 
both  God  and  man  (John  10 :  30) — calling 
himself  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Son  of  Man ; 
so  that  as  God  is  in  Substance,  Nature,  and  Art, 
he  was  the  Word,  that  is,  the  expression,  in 
human  substance,  nature,  and  art  (John  1:1); 
and  of  what  is  the  Divine  conception  of  social 
order,  he  was  the  example  and  teacher.  He 
announced  his  social  polity  to  be  that  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God  (Mark  4 :  11) — a  gospel  of 
glad  tidings  of  great  joy  (Luke  1 :  19 ;  8 :  1), 
and  its  practical  development  in  the  world  to 
be  his  Church,  Congregation,  or  School,  repre- 
senting in  its  organic  unity  and  works  the  theory 
and  practice  of  love  (John  13 :  34),  whose  ulti- 
mate design  was  to  embrace  all  human  beings 
in  one  Fold,  or  Family  (John  10  :  16  ;  Eph.  3  : 
15).  It  differs  from  the  Temple  only  as  love 
differs  from  law,  it  being  the  fulfillment  of  the 
law  in  love — the  practical  realization  of  the 
ultimate  purpose  of  the  law  of  charity  in  the 
fruition  of  faith  and  hope  (Rom.  13 :  9,  10). 
Both  are  of  God  and  alike  socialistic  in  spirit ; 
but  while  one  is  only  a  partial  development  of 


88         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

religion,  the  other  is  the  perfection  and  fullness 
thereof. 

Now  if  it  be  true  that  God  Is,  there  must 
also  be  a  Kingdom  of  God — a  community  in 
which  law  is  fulfilled  in  love,  and  in  which 
there  are  perfect  liberty,  equality,  and  frater- 
nity in  harmony  with  the  divine  consciousness 
and  will ;  for  necessarily  Being  must  be  limit- 
less in  its  comprehensions  of  social  conditions 
as  in  all  things  else.  Hence  we  may  define 
Christianity  as  an  effort  to  introduce  into  this 
sinful  world  the  social  system  of  that  Kingdom. 
And  this  effort,  corrupt  and  selfish  as  this  world 
is,  cannot  be  impossible  of  realization,  for  the 
citizens  of  that  Kingdom,  being  creatures  of 
God,  must  be  of  our  social  nature,  and  can 
differ  from  us  only  in  their  superior  culture  in 
the  principles  of  true  religion.  Moreover,  the 
first  step  thereto,  as  in  the  creation  of  man  in 
this  world  there  must  have  been  produced  a 
first  man,  of  the  earth,  earthy,  was  necessarily 
the  development  from  that  earth- man  of  a 
second  man  (1  Cor.  15  :  45,  47),  of  heaven, 
heavenly,  conceived  in  the  spirit  of  the  earth- 
man  from  the  Spirit  of  God : — that  is,  an  ideal 
conception  of  an  improved  and  higher  order  of 
manhood  imparted  to  the  mind  of  the  earth- 
man  from  the  Divine  Consciousness, — which  is 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OF   TBE   CHURCH.          89 

nothing  more  than  to  say  that,  as  the  infant 
which  possesses  little  consciousness  grows  into 
the  consciousness  of  manhood,  so  the  human 
race  in  mind  and  spirit  has  grown  into  the  con- 
sciousness of  revealed  religious  truths.  In  fact, 
the  infant  is  naturally  the  earth-man,  and  its 
true  and  perfected  manhood  is  the  Lord  from 
heaven. 

The  beginning  and  process,  therefore,  of  the 
development  in  the  flesh  of  the  God-man,  "  the 
Lord  from  heaven,"  were  not,  as  nothing  en- 
during can  be,  contrary  to  nature,  howbeit  he 
existed  from  eternity  in  spirit  as  the  primary 
and  personal  realization  of  Sonship,  the  first 
begotten  of  the  Father — "  was  in  the  beginning 
with  God  and  was  God," — but  was  naturally 
and  prophetically  conceived  of  in  the  human 
conscience  of  the  Consciousness  of  God — that 
is,  begotten  in  the  spirit  of  man  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  thereby  inspiring  aspirations  and  hopes  of 
realizing  this  Divine  Sonship  in  our  earthy  life. 
In  other  words,  as  all  heavenly  aspirations, 
hopes,  and  prophecies  naturally  realize  them- 
selves in  our  outward  life,  there  was  naturally 
produced  in  the  flesh  a  human  being  of  per- 
fected nature  and  art  expressive  of  the  Divine — 
one  who,  when  grown  to  manhood,  became  the 
express  image  in  human  personality  of  the 


90         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

Divine  Personality  (John  14 :  9 ;  2  Cor.  4:4; 
Col.  1 :  15 ;  Heb.  1 :  13). 

But  whatever  be  true  theoretically  of  the 
evolution  of  Jesus  the  Christ  in  human  society, 
it  cannot  be  questioned  that  he  was,  so  far  as 
we  are  able  to  conceive  thereof,  a  perfect  man, 
the  incarnation  of  a  divine  manhood  and  son- 
ship,  or  that  his  existence  here  in  human  society 
is  the  conclusive  evidence  that  a  like  perfection 
is  a  possible  development  of  improved  human 
nature  and  art. 

Conceding,  therefore,  that  his  birth  was  not 
miraculous  in  an  unnatural  sense,  but  a  natural 
evolution  of  the  religious  culture  of  his  family 
whereby  the  law  was  fulfilled  in  love,  the  fact 
still  remains  that,  as  human  nature  became  per- 
fected in  him,  so  may  it  also  in  the  whole  human 
race.  That  such  a  human  being  existed  here 
is  certain,  as  evidenced  by  the  existence  of  his 
gospel  and  church,  in  which  are  fully  and  clearly 
defined  and  illustrated  the  principles  of  true 
religion — a  social  polity  which,  if  practically 
applied  and  realized  would  redeem  society  from 
all  sin,  selfishness,  and  oppression,  and  develop 
a  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  a  state  of  perfect 
liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity.  What  this  one 
man  was  all  may  become — sons  and  prophets  of 
God  (Rom.  8:  14;  1  John  3:  1,  12),  inspired, 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OP   THE   CHURCH.  91 

begotten  in  spirit  of  his  ideal  of  a  perfected 
human  nature  and  art  to  a  new  and  immortal  life 
— quickened  in  spirit  by  the  resurrective  power 
of  Divine  Love  (1  Pet.  3 :  18). 

Every  true  prophet  is  one  who  not  only  dis- 
cerns that  which  may  and  ought  to  be,  but  who 
also  seeks  to  practically  realize  his  prophetic 
ideals  in  himself  and  in  the  world, — not  only 
an  idealist,  but  also  one  who  strives  to  make 
real  that  of  which  at  first  he  only  dreams.  In 
the  confidence  of  his  inspirations — which,  so 
far  from  being  unnatural,  are  the  natural  evo- 
lutions of  his  unity  with  God  in  conscience  and 
volition,  he  is  able  to  receive  of  his  Spirit  heav- 
enly ideals — immaculate  conceptions  in  his  own 
spirit  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  in  due  time 
are  incarnated,  born  of  the  flesh,  and  made  vis- 
ible in  practical  life. 

As  a  man  is  in  nature  a  social  being,  true 
prophecy  is  naturally  socialistic ;  and  although 
it  is  difficult  to  trace  its  source  in  the  obscurity 
of  the  remote  past  in  which  this  prophecy  of 
the  coining  of  a  perfected  humanity  originated, 
it  is  clear  that  it  has  had  a  natural,  that  is  a 
rational,  development — as  natural  in  the  spirit 
as  the  conception,  growth  and  birth  of  a  nat- 
ural body  in  the  flesh,  the  development  of  body 
and  mind  being  coincident. 


92         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

God  has  always  had  his  witnesses  (Isa.  43 : 
9,  10;  Heb.  12:  1) — examples  of  men  in  this 
world  conceived  in  spirit  of  his  Spirit,  yet 
born  naturally  of  woman  in  the  flesh,  whereby 
a  perfected  humanity  was  approximated  by  the 
Divine  Art.  Such  witnesses  were  the  true 
prophets  and  priests  of  God,  who,  though 
widely  separated  in  time  and  space,  were  yet 
bound  together  in  a  common  faith  and  trust  in 
one  only  living  and  true  God,  and  constituted 
that  mystic  brotherhood  known  as  the  Order 
of  Melchizedek  (Gen.  14 :  18).  From  and  by 
this  Order  were  evolved  and  developed  the 
prophecy  of  a  coming  Messiah  (Ps.  110:  4; 
Heb.  5:  6-10),  and  the  idea  of  a  perfected 
social  condition  of  peace  and  brotherhood  (Isa. 
11:  1-10;  Heb.  7:  1,  2).  In  its  Sonship  in 
the  Father,  and  in  its  unity  and  Brotherhood 
in  Man,  like  the  Church  which  is  the  forebirth 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  this  divine  Order  was 
counted  as  eternal  in  God,  "  having  neither  be- 
ginning of  days  nor  end  of  life,"  being  "  made, 
not  after  the  law  of  a  carnal  commandment, 
but  after  the  power  of  an  endless  life  "  (Heb. 
7 :  3,  16) — the  idea  of  the  finite  and  temporal 
being  merged  in  and  swallowed  up  of  the  In- 
finite and  Eternal  (2  Cor.  5 :  4) — even  as  in- 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OF   THE   CHURCH.          93 

fancy  is  merged  in  and  swallowed  up  of  man- 
hood (1  Cor.  13:  11,12). 

This  prophecy,  however,  of  a  perfected  hu- 
manity found  at  first  but  feeble  expression — in 
covenants  and  promises  (Gen.  3 :  15 ;  9 :  13, 
14;  17:  7) — in  whisperings,  dreams,  visions, 
and  foreshadowings  of  a  glory  to  come  (Gen. 
15:  1,  17;  28:  12;  Ex.  3:  2).  But  when 
these  ideal  conceptions  had  been  partially  real- 
ized in  the  development  of  a  theocracy  under 
the  Moral  Law,  the  prophets  of  this  Divine  Or- 
der— sensible  of  the  severe  yet  necessary  dis- 
cipline and  thralldom  imposed  thereby,  and 
inspired  of  God  with  a  higher  conception  of 
social  freedom,  while  at  the  same  time  they  be- 
came the  more  conscious  of  their  own  imper- 
fection and  weakness — began  to  prophesy  of 
the  coming  of  One  whom,  in  the  perfection  of 
human  nature  and  art  they  described  as  the 
Redeemer  (Job  19:  25;  Isa.  59  :  20),  God  with 
man  (Isa.  7 :  14  ;  9:6),  The  Wonderful,  The 
Counsellor,  The  Mighty  God,  The  Everlasting 
Father,  The  Prince  of  Peace.  And  striving 
further  in  the  rapture  of  their  contemplations 
to  portray  in  words  this  ideal  Manhood,  they 
defined  his  mission  to  be,  "  To  bind  up  the 
broken-hearted,  to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  cap- 


94        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

tives,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them 
that  are  bound  "  (Isa.  61 :  1). 

Fragmentary  and  confused  as  these  prophe- 
cies may  appear,  they  became  coherent  and 
definite  in  the  example  of  a  perfected  humanity 
in  Jesus  the  Christ.  Hence  Peter  and  John 
believed  they  had  been  historically  and  spiritu- 
ally fulfilled  in  him — that  he  was  the  promised 
Redeemer,  Prince  of  Peace,  and  God  with  Man. 
And  it  must  be  conceded  that  in  nature  and 
art,  judged  by  his  teachings  and  works,  he 
could  not  have  been  other  than  the  full  expres- 
sion in  the  human  conscience  and  will  of  the 
Divine  Consciousness  and  Will.  And  whether 
it  be  literally  or  figuratively  true  that  at  his 
birth  was  heard  the  Angelic  Chant,  it  is  certain 
that  his  coming  was  in  fact  the  proclamation  of 
"  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth 
peace,  good  will  toward  men  " — expressive  of  a 
social  and  religious  unity  of  God  and  Man, 
which,  if  practically  realized,  would  bind  up 
the  broken-hearted,  and  open  every  prison  door. 

It  is  indeed  self-evident  that,  if  the  religious 
bond  of  which  we  have  spoken  were  practically 
realized — if  men  would  love  God  with  all  their 
heart,  mind,  and  soul,  and  their  neighbors  as 
themselves — all  natural  and  lawfully  acquired 
rights  would  be  gladly  recognized.  And  it  is 


THE   SOCIALISTIC  IDEA   OP   THE   CHURCH.          95 

equally  certain  that  such  rights  cannot  in  any 
other  way  be  secured ;  for  just  so  long  as  men 
are  selfish  will  they  trespass  upon  them,  and 
the  strong  oppress  the  weak. 

Now  Peter  and  John  represented  this  higher 
religious  culture,  the  principles  of  which  were 
as  fully  and  accurately  defined  and  classified 
by  the  Christ  and  his  Apostles  as  were  those  of 
the  moral  law  by  Moses  and  the  prophets  ;  and 
as  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law,  such  princi- 
ples are  represented  in  the  methods  by  which 
law  is  fulfilled  in  love.  Thus  the  first  com- 
mandment of  the  law,  which  affirms  the  exist- 
ence of  one  only  living  and  true  God,  and  re- 
quires us  to  recognize  in  him  the  supreme  and 
ultimate  Source  of  all  authority,  is,  so  far  as 
appears  from  the  letter  thereof,  simply  the  pro- 
mulgation of  a  decree  as  arbitrary  and  despotic 
as  that  of  any  earthly  sovereign,  who,  on  the 
false  assumption  that  "  might  makes  right," 
exercises  his  authority  simply  because  he  has 
power  to  enforce  it — even  as  Nebuchadnezzar 
required  all  his  subjects  to  fall  down  and  wor- 
ship the  golden  image  which  he  had  set  up. 
But  interpreted  and  fulfilled  in  the  spirit, 
whereby  the  true  idea  of  God  is  made  to  ap- 
pear that  of  a  universal  Father,  ruling  in  love, 
and  for  the  best  interests  of  all  his  children,  all 


96         THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

ideas  of  caprice  and  tyranny  in  him  may  be 
banished  from  our  minds,  and  the  humility  of 
our  worship  become  the  medium  of  our  highest 
exaltation  (Matt.  18:  4).  This,  therefore,  is  the 
first  and  cardinal  principle  affirmed  and  taught 
in  the  gospel  of  the  Christ — the  universal 
Fatherhood  of  God ;  and  that  in  such  Father- 
hood only  is  the  supreme  Source  of  all  rightful 
authority  and  power.  Of  this,  and  of  this  only, 
is  derived  the  right  idea  of  one  only  living  and 
true  God ;  for  otherwise,  if  our  interests,  our 
very  being  and  life,  were  not  identified  with 
his,  as  those  of  children  with  parents  in  one 
family,  it  is  impossible  that  there  should  be 
unity  of  men  with  God  ;  and  without  unity 
there  could  be  no  true  religion.  If  he  were  a 
being  separate  and  apart  from  us,  unlike  us  in 
nature  and  art,  his  authority  would  be  derived 
simply  from  his  superior  power,  and  it  would 
be  impossible  that  what  were  his  private  inter- 
ests should  be  also  ours.  In  fact,  if  he  were 
not  our  Father,  if  we  were  not  begotten  of  him, 
— he  might  be  totally  unlike  us ;  and  as  we  are 
possessed  of  rational  and  moral  faculties,  he 
might  be  without  reason  or  conscience,  and  our 
devotion  to  him  be  only  idolatry,  an  unnatural 
subjection  to  a  being  inferior  to  ourselves. 
His  superiority  must  be  in  the  same  qualities 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OP   THE   CHURCH.  97 

of  mind  and  heart  that  we  ourselves  possess — 
the  full  perfection  of  our  reason  and  conscience 
— or  he  could  not  be  our  supreme  authority  in 
reason  and  conscience,  nor  could  he  love  us  or 
we  him.  But  if,  as  taught  in  the  gospel  of  the 
Christ,  we  are  his  children,  then  is  the  human 
race  his  natural  family,  true  religion  our  unity 
with  him  and  each  other,  and  our  worship  the 
culture  of  obedience  to  a  living  and  loving 
Father. 

If  then  we  understand  what  the  true  idea  of 
Fatherhood  is — of  One  who  has  begotten  us  to 
life  of  his  own  Life,  endowed  us  with  personal- 
ity of  his  own  Personality,  and  protects  and 
governs  us  in  our  own  best  interests — we  have 
the  right  idea  of  God,  and  can  understand  how 
all  his  laws  are  fulfilled  in  love, — his  relations 
to  us  being  precisely  the  same  as  those  of  a  true 
unselfish  earthly  father  to  his  children,  in  which 
there  is  no  caprice  or  tyranny. 

Now  this  idea  of  God  as  the  universal  Father 
represents  the  cardinal  principle  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  even  as  that  of  one  only  living 
and  true  God  represents  the  cardinal  principle 
of  the  moral  law.  With  this  idea,  and  this 
only,  is  it  possible  to  rightly  interpret  the 
spirit  of  the  law,  or  fulfill  it  in  love.  With 
this  idea  and  this  only,  practically  applied,  is  it 


98  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

possible  for  any  man  to  become  a  true  follower 
of  the  Christ.  "  Our  Father  "  being  the  postu- 
late of  what  is  known  as  the  Lord's  Prayer,  all 
its  hopes  and  aspirations,  as  are  also  all  the 
teachings  of  his  gospel,  are  founded  thereon, 
and  all  its  promises  realized  therein. 

Is  this  postulate  true  ?  Is  the  Supreme 
Power  and  Intelligence  that  is  certainly  mani- 
fested in  all  things  that  exist  our  Universal 
Father?  Or  is  this  idea  merely  fanciful  and 
sentimental,  or  based  only  on  the  assertion 
of  Scripture  that  God  made,  brought  forth, 
created,  or  caused  to  grow,  man  in  his  likeness, 
both  male  and  female  (Gen.  1 :  26,  27)  ? — or 
upon  the  declaration  of  the  Christ  that  he  him- 
self came  forth  from  the  Father  (John  16:  28)? 
No  doubt  it  is  both  scripturally  and  logically 
true ;  for  the  supreme  Power  and  Intelligence 
— recognized  and  defined  even  by  unchristian 
men  as  the  "  Unknown  God  "  (Acts  17 :  23)— 
must  be  the  Person,  the  Original  Man,  from 
whom  all  persons  are  derived,  and  in  whom  we 
live  and  move  and  have  our  being  (Acts  17 : 
28)  ;  or,  as  accurately  and  authoritatively  de- 
fined in  Scripture,  the  "I  Am  That  I  AM" 
(Ex.  3:  14) — the  Infinite,  Absolute  and  sole 
Reality  of  Personal  Being,  of  Whom  all  finite 
beings  are  realizations,  births,  or  natural  evolu- 


TUB   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OP   THE   CHURCH.          99 

tious,  even  as  substantives  are  realizations  of 
Substance. 

Moreover,  as  is  asserted  and  logically  demon- 
strated in  the  apostolic  writings,  and  especially 
in  those  of  Paul  and  John,  God  is  our  loving 
Father, — nay  Love  Itself  (John  4 :  8).  Indeed, 
it  is  a  truth  as  positively  demonstrable  in 
natural  as  in  spiritual  science,  that  all  things 
visible  and  invisible  in  the  entire  Universe  are 
of  love,  by  love,  and  for  love.  That  is,  all 
persons  or  things,  all  lives,  lights,  thoughts, 
and  emotions,  are  begotten,  born,  made  to  ap- 
pear, created,  whether  of  substance,  nature,  or 
art,  of  love — howbeit  love,  as  all  things  else, 
may  be  corrupted  by  sin.  Indeed,  every  fac- 
ulty we  possess  is  a  faculty  of  love,  a  power 
and  passion  of  creating  and  enjoying  what  we 
create. 

Now  let  us  have  a  practical  idea  of  what  love 
is ;  for  when  Paul  declares  that  love  is  the  ful- 
filling of  the  law,  and  John  that  God  is  Love, 
they  do  not  use  the  word  in  a  merely  senti- 
mental or  unphilosophical  sense  God  being 
Substance,  Nature,  and  Art,  such  also  is  Love, 
if  John's  definition  be  true.  That  is,  these 
three  cardinal  elements  of  Being,  united  as 
they  are  in  harmonious  relations,  are  the  reali- 
zations of  Love — the  Word  or  Expression  of 


100  THE   GATE   CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

Love.  They  came  forth  of  Love,  were  in  the 
beginning  with  love,  and  are  Love.  For  mani- 
festly they  represent  and  are  the  eternal  unity 
and  harmony  of  Being.  Naturally,  however, 
things  do  not  unite  and  become  one  except 
there  be  affinity ;  and  such  affinity  is  mutual 
love.  And  as  no  bein£  could  be  except  by 
union  of  two  or  more  things,  such  affinity  or 
love  is  the  ultimate  Principle  of  Being — at 
least  so  far  as  our  finite  conceptions  of  Infinite 
Being  can  reach.  And  moreover,  if  Being  be 
Personal,  our  primary  and  practical  conception 
of  God  is  that  he  is  Personal  Love — the  Unity 
of  all  elements  of  personality  comprehended  in 
the  titles  of  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit. 

At  first  thought  we  may  infer  that  from 
such  unity  of  Substance,  Nature,  and  Art  Per- 
sonality was  evolved,  but  the  contrary  is  evi- 
dently true.  Neither  Substance,  Nature,  nor  Art 
could  have  ever  been  apart  from  each  other,  or 
from  Personality ;  and  as  together  they  repre- 
sent Being,  Being  must  have  evolved  them. 
Hence,  as  Being  is  Personal,  Person  must  have 
evolved  them,  and  they  exist  only  as  elements 
of  Personality  evolved  of  Person.  As  In- 
finite Being  cannot  be  limited  to  conditions  and 
relations  of  time  and  space,  any  idea  of  its 
origin  is  manifestly  fanciful,  and  really  absurd 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA    OP   THE   CHURCH.        101 

—for  of  course  there  can  be  no  origin  in  time 
or  space  of  that  which  is  without  beginning 
or  ending — yet  we  may  have  a  clear  concep- 
tion, from  '*  things  which  do  appear "  (Heb. 
11 :  3),  of  what  that  uncreated  Being  or  Per- 
son Is.  If  it  manifests  itself  in  love,  of  which 
we  have  power  of  conscience,  and  love  is  the 
medium  by  which  all  things  are  made  to  ap- 
pear and  grow,  it  is  evident  that  love  is  our 
true  and  primary  conception  of  God — the  orig- 
inal, uncreated,  and  First  Cause  of  all  things, 
visible  and  invisible.  And  as  Love  is  Unity, 
God  is  the  Unity  of  all  things.  This  Unity 
produces  and  requires  law  and  order,  and  is, 
therefore,  the  fulfilling  of  the  law.  Or  as  John 
expresses  the  same  idea,  "  everyone  that  loveth 
is  born  of  God  and  knoweth  God."  In  other 
words,  right  social  relations,  representing  as 
they  do  social  harmony  and  obedience  to 
Divine  laws,  precisely  and  practically  expresses 
what  true  love  is,  and  is  true  religion. 

Manifestly,  love  is  the  primary  realization  of 
God,  not  only  of  himself  but  of  us.  That  is, 
his  self-consciousness  is  consciousness  of  Love ; 
and  our  consciousness  of  him  is  of  a  Supreme 
Person  who  rules  in  love.  Moreover,  as  he 
is  the  Infinite  Person,  his  love  must  be  per- 
sonal and  social — not  self-love,  as  it  would  be 


102        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

if  there  were  not  comprehended  in  his  Being 
both  Fatherhood  and  Sonship.  Indeed,  the 
idea  of  God  would  not  only  be  impossible  of 
realization,  but  would  be  really  absurd  and 
contradictory,  if  our  idea  of  him  were  limited 
to  Fatherhood — it  being  impossible  that  there 
should  be  a  father  without  a  son,  or  a  son 
without  a  father. 

Hence,  to  believe  that  God  is  the  Infinite 
Father  is  to  believe  that  he  is  also  the  Infinite 
Son.  That  is,  one  in  Love — nay  One  Love — 
else  Being  were  not  One.  This,  therefore,  is 
the  second  cardinal  principle  of  the  gospel  of 
the  Christ,  that  God  is  a  loving  Son, — and  is 
the  assertion  of  our  own  sonship  in  God  ;  that 
is,  that  we  are  not  only  fathers  but  also  sons  in 
God — one  through  mutual  love.  With  this 
idea  may  we  spiritually  and  practically  inter- 
pret the  Fifth  Commandment,  which  requires 
children  to  honor  their  parents,  for  necessarily 
there  could  be  no  moral  or  religious  obligation 
on  the  part  of  children  .to  honor  and  obey 
an  earthly  father,  unless  the  father  were  him- 
self a  son  of  God,  and  honored  and  obe}red  his 
heavenly  Father,  the  source  of  all  rightful 
authority.  To  be  a  true  son  of  man  is  to  be  a 
son  in  God,  and  to  be  a  true  earthly  father  is 
to  be  a  father  in  God — one  Love — in  the  same 


THE  SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OP   THE   CHURCH.        103 

sense  that  husband  and  wife,  and  husband, 
wife,  and  children,  are  one  love. 

Now  if  it  be  true  that  Jesus  was  perfect 
man,  he  must  have  been,  as  is  asserted  by  the 
apostolic  writers,  and  as  he  himself  also  af- 
firmed, in  person  the  express  image  and  like- 
ness of  the  Father,  so  that  whosoever  looked 
on  him  looked  on  the  Father,  and  was  in  such 
perfect  love  and  unity  with  the  Father  that  he 
and  the  Father  were  one  (John  1 :  18;  10 :  30 ; 
14:  9;  Heb.  1:  3).  And  the  same  would  be 
true  of  any  other  human  being  who  had  at- 
tained a  like  perfection — even  as  this  world 
itself  would  become  one  with  the  Kingdom  of 
God  if  all  evil  were  eliminated — one  through 
mutual  love. 

Looking  still  deeper  into  the  mysteries  of  our 
being — led  step  by  step  by  logical  induction 
and  the  special  inspiration  of  God — the  apos- 
tles affirm  Jesus  to  be  the  First  and  Only  Be- 
gotten Son  of  God  (John  1 :  14 ;  Heb.  1 :  6). 
In  the  same  sense  in  which  he  is  in  unity  with 
the  Father,  and  the  express  image  of  the 
Father,  so  also  is  he  in  unity  with  the  Son,  and 
the  express  image  of  the  Son.  And  as  Father- 
hood and  Sonship  must  both  be  comprehended 
in  the  one  Infinite  Person, — one  Infinite  Love 
— and  have  existed  in  Him  from  eternity,  the 


104  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

Son  is  properly  defined  as  the  First  and  Only 
Begotten  of  God.  Moreover,  as  Jesus  was 
perfect  man,  he  was  not  simply  the  image  of 
the  Father  and  the  Son,  but  also  expressed  the 
personal  character  and  embodiment  of  eternal 
Sonship,  and  was  endowed  with  the  personal 
power  and  individuality  of  the  Eternal  Son — 
even  as  one  brother  of  the  family  in  which  all 
are  perfect,  possesses  all  the  personal  power 
and  individuality  that  each  other  and  all  pos- 
sess. Hence  Jesus,  though  a  man  in  the  flesh, 
was,  being  perfect,  the  incarnation,  revelation, 
expression,  or  word  of  the  Eternal,  the  First, 
and  Only  Begotten  Son  of  God.  Thus  John 
describes  him  as  the  "  Word,"  which  was  in  the 
beginning  with  God  and  was  God.  And  what 
is  more  surprising — but  what  a  moment's  re- 
flection will  convince  us  is  true — he  declares 
that  by  him  were  all  things  made  that  were 
made ;  for,  as  has  already  been  shown,  Love 
being  the  first  realization  of  God,  and  all 
things  being  of  love  and  by  love,  and  the  Di- 
vine Sonship  being  the  personification  of  Love, 
it  follows  that  by  this  Word,  this  Expression 
of  God,  all  things  were  made  to  appear.  And 
it  is  also  true,  as  this  great  apostle  declares, 
that  "In  him  was  life,  and  the  life  was  the 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OF   THE   CHURCH.        105 

light  of  men  " — even  as  by  the  natural  sun  are 
all  natural  life  and  light  created. 

Hence  Jesus  properly  asserted  his  Sonship 
both  in  man  and  God,  declaring  that  all  things 
were  by  the  Father  delivered  into  his  hands 
(Matt.  11 :  27) ;  and  in  his  teachings,  example, 
and  works  illustrated  what  such  true  son  ship 
is — obedience  to  the  Father,  not  only  because 
he  is  superior  in  power,  but  because  he  loves 
us,  and  all  his  laws  are  established  and  enforced 
for  our  own  present  and  eternal  well-being. 

The  Third  cardinal  principle  is  the  universal 
Brotherhood  of  man  (Matt.  23 :  8,  9 ;  Mark  3 : 
31-35;  Acts  17:  26;  Eph.  4:  25).  As  all 
men  are  sons  of  God  all  are  members  of  one 
Family  (Eph.  2:  19;  3:  14,  15).  Hence,  each 
is  required  not  only  to  love  God  with  all  his 
heart,  mind,  and  soul,  but  also  his  neighbor  as 
himself  (Matt.  22:  35-40).  If  this  principle 
were  accepted  and  practically  applied,  every 
law  of  God  protective  of  the  social  rights  and 
interests  of  men  would  be  fulfilled  in  love,  and 
all  selfishness  and  injustice  cease ;  for  no  per- 
son would  murder,  steal,  commit  adultery,  bear 
false  witness,  or  covet  another's  possessions, 
who  loved  his  neighbor  as  himself  (Rom.  13: 
10). 

Upon  these  three  cardinal  principles  enunci- 


106        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

ated  by  the  Christ  he  founded  a  social  polity 
which  is  called  his  Church.  They  were  not, 
however,  original  with  the  man  Jesus  (John  8 : 
28),  all  fundamental  principles  being  eternal  in 
God,  but  enunciated  and  practically  applied  by 
him  in  the  Church  (Eph.  1:  22;  3:  10;  5:  27; 
Col.  1:  18,  24).  As  he  was  the  Word— the  ex- 
pression in  humanity  of  Sonship  in  God — so 
was  his  Church  the  Word  or  expression  on 
earth  of  the  social  polity  eternal  in  heaven,  and 
was  called  by  him  the  Kingdom  of  God  (Luke 
4 :  43  ;  Acts  1 :  3) — at  first  purely  idealistic, 
coming  not  by  observation  (Luke  17:  20),  and 
having  objectively  no  realization  in  a  sinful  and 
selfish  world,  yet  finding  expression  in  our  out- 
ward lives  to  the  degree  we  become  conscious 
of  it  and  practice  its  principles  in  the  adjust- 
ment of  our  social  relations  with  God  and  men. 
And  to  all,  however  few  in  number,  and  how- 
ever otherwise  imperfect,  who  respond  in  heart, 
mind,  and  soul  to  the  gospel  of  glory  to  God  in 
the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good  will  to- 
ward man,  it  is  Salvation,  well-being,  complete 
redemption  from  social  thralldom,  and  the  Gate 
of  entrance  to  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

Now  that  this  definition  of  the  Church — of 
a  brotherhood  designed  to  cultivate,  illustrate, 
and  practically  apply  the  principles  of  the  gos- 


THE    SOCIALISTIC    IDEA    OF    THE   CHURCH.        107 

pel  in  the  world,  whereby  the  law  is  fulfilled  in 
love — is  the  true  one,  cannot  be  reasonably 
questioned.  In  fact  all  Christian  denomina- 
tions recognize  in  theory  its  communistic  idea, 
howbeit  few  if  any  have  attempted  to  define 
and  illustrate  in  practice  what  this  idea  is,  but 
have  limited  it  to  a  community  in  creeds,  in 
sacraments,  or  in  systems  of  worship.  All  of 
these,  however  true  or  essential  to  its  organiza- 
tion, are  merely  speculative  or  conventional 
and  totally  inadequate  to  the  fulfillment  of  the 
law  in  love,  unless  accompanied  and  illustrated 
by  a  community  of  unselfish  social  interests. 
No  man,  or  congregation  of  men,  can  love  God 
except  he  love  his  brother  also  (1  John  4:  7, 
20,  21).  Nor  can  we  love  our  brother  except 
we  love  also  our  Father  in  heaven ;  for  all 
ideas  of  kinship  and  social  community  must  be 
derived  from  Fatherhood  (Mai.  2:  10;  Matt. 
25:  34-46;  Jas.  2:  15,  16;  1  John  3:  17). 

The  community  of  the  Church  is  intended  to 
illustrate  the  very  highest  conception  of  pater- 
nal, filial,  and  fraternal  love,  and  is  described 
as  the  Fold  (John  10 :  16),  and  the  Household 
(Matt.  10 :  25)  of  God,  and  all  its  members  as 
branches  of  one  Vine  (John  15:  5).  Hence,  it 
is  impossible  that  its  ideal  should  be  realized  in 
the  world — should  represent  the  glory  of  God, 


108       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

peace  on  earth,  and  good  will  toward  men — ex- 
cept there  be  unity  in  all  interests  and  posses- 
sions, as  of  parents  and  children  in  one  family. 
Accordingly  we  find  that  the  first  church  or- 
ganized at  Jerusalem  represented  such  unity, 
and  was  wholly  communistic, — that  "  the  mul- 
titude of  them  that  believed  were  of  one  heart 
and  one  soul ;  neither  said  any  of  them  that 
aught  of  the  things  he  possessed  was  his  own, 
but  they  had  all  things  common." 

This  community  of  possessions,  however,  was 
wholly  voluntary  (  Acts  5  :  4  ;  11 :  29) — the 
idea  of  compulsion  being  necessarily  incon- 
sistent with  the  fulfillment  of  the  law  in  love — 
although  essential  to  the  constitution  of  the 
church.  Except  every  member,  according  to 
his  ability,  bestowed  his  goods  upon  his  fellow- 
members  as  they  had  need,  he  could  not  be  a 
member,  his  ability  and  need  being  rightly  es- 
timated in  the  unselfish  conscience  of  the 
Church.  But  every  member,  and  indeed  the 
church  itself,  necessarily  leads  two  lives — the 
one  in  the  world,  wherein  he  is  subject  to  the 
law  and  the  necessities  pertaining  thereto,  and 
the  other  in  the  Kingdom  of  God  wherein  he 
fulfills  the  law  in  love.  Under  the  law  it  is 
necessary  and  right  that  he  should  hold  his 
possessions  by  legal  titles  and  in  his  own  name, 


THE   SOCIALISTIC   IDEA   OF   THE   CHURCH.        109 

and  he  may  and  should  accumulate  and  possess 
this  world's  goods  so  far  as  he  can  do  so  law- 
fully and  justly — it  being  utterly  vain  and 
foolish  to  attempt  to  practice  an  equal  com- 
munity of  possessions  among  men  more  or  less 
selfish,  dissipated,  and  criminal,  who  are  un- 
willing even  to  attempt  to  fulfill  the  law  in 
love.  But  in  the  true  church,  wherein  all  are 
brethren  and  members  of  one  household,  he 
cannot  selfishly  regard  his  possessions  as  ex- 
clusively his  own,  but  must  share  with  his 
fellow-members  as  they  have  need  the  usury  of 
his  talents  (Matt.  25  :  14-29).  In  the  one  case 
he  renders  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are 
Csesar's,  and  in  the  other  unto  God  the  things 
that  are  God's  (  Matt.  22  :  21). 

Now  while  there  was  no  compulsion  what- 
ever in  the  original  church,  no  person  being 
compelled  to  become  a  member  or  remain  a 
member,  yet  so  long  as  one  was  a  member  he 
was  in  perfect  subjection  to  its  authority.  The 
Kingdom  of  God  is  an  absolute  monarchy,  in 
complete  subjection  to  him  ;  and  as  the  Church 
was  fashioned  in  the  likeness  of  that  Kingdom, 
and  the  two  are  one,  it  is  also  in  complete  sub- 
jection to  its  Founder  ( Eph.  1 :  22,  23),  the 
Perfect  Man,  the  Son  of  God,  even  as  the  Son 
is  in  complete  subjection  to  the  Father  (  John 


110       THE  GATE  GALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

5:  30;  1  Cor.  15:  28).  Yet  as  a  Kingdom 
ruled  in  righteousness  is  ruled  in  love,  and  as 
our  subjection  to  the  church  is  wholly  volun- 
tary, that  the  law  may  be  fulfilled  in  love,  such 
subjection  is  perfect  freedom,  and  the  idea  of  an 
absolute  monarchy  does  not  differ  in  principle 
from  that  of  a  government  administered  by  a 
King  ruling  in  righteousness  ( Isa.  32 :  1 ;  John 
18:  37),  or  of  one  ruling  by  the  people  and  for 
the  people  (  Acts  1 :  23-26).  So  while  there  is 
absolute  authority  in  the  true  church,  exercised 
primarily  by  the  Christ,  and  secondarily  by  the 
apostles  and  other  ministers  chosen  by  the 
people  under  his  direction,  there  is  no  law, 
each  member,  so  long  as  he  is  a  member,  being 
in  voluntary  subjection  to  the  higher  powers 
(Rom.  13  :  1).  The  sacraments  so  called  in  our 
day, — which  are  the  symbols,  or  "  outward 
and  visible  signs  of  inward  and  spiritual  grace," 
and  by  which  fellowship  is  secured  and  made 
manifest — are  in  the  place  of  law,  and  represent 
the  covenant  whereby  each  member  is  pledged 
to  obedience  by  the  fulfillment  of  the  law  in 
love,  is  promised  redemption  from  all  social  op- 
pressions (Matt.  1:  28;  John  8:  32,36;  Gal. 
4 :  26),  and  ultimately  resurrection  to  a  glori- 
fied and  immortal  life  ( John  3  :  15 ;  11 :  25  ; 
Rom.  8:  18;  1  Cor.  15:  54). 


BOOK  SECOND. 
THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 


"And  a  certain  man,  lame  from  his  mother' 's  womb,  was 
carried,  whom  they  laid  daily  at  the  gate  of  the  temple  which  is 
called  Beautiful,  to  ask  alms  of  them  that  entered  into  the 
temple."— Acts  3 :  2. 


PROLOGUE. 

GATES. 

AN  open  gate  is  a  means  of  ingress  to  any 
place  or  condition,  or  of  egress  therefrom  ;  or, 
if  closed  and  bolted,  the  prevention  of  ingress 
or  egress.  It  represents  alike  a  privilege  or  a 
limitation  of  privilege;  an  opening  through  a 
barrier  or  the  interposition  of  a  barrier;  a 
channel  of  communication  between  things  with- 
out and  things  within,  or  a  limitation  of  com- 
munication. 

In  nature  all  things,  though  mutually  de- 
pendent, are  protected  by  barriers  furnished 
with  gates,  whereby  they  may  be  brought  in 
contact  with,  or  separated  from,  each  other  as 
convenience  or  necessity  may  require.  Thus 
the  eye,  though  a  medium  of  communication 
between  things  without  and  things  within,  be- 
ing a  delicate  organ  and  easily  injured,  is  pro- 
tected by  a  strong  barrier  of  bone  and  muscle, 
and  furnished  with  a  gate  which  may  be  opened 
and  shut  at  pleasure.  No  being  could  retain 
its  distinctive  character  and  use  without  bar- 
113 


114  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

riers  for  protection,  nor  could  it  receive  or  be- 
stow its  proper  influences  except  such  barriers 
were  furnished  with  gates.  Indeed  all  things 
would  be  wholly  isolated,  and  would  lose  their 
distinctive  and  relative  character,  place,  and 
condition,  unless  there  were  channels  of  com- 
munication, and  in  such  case  would  cease  to 
exist  since  all  are  social  in  nature  and  mutually 
dependent  for  their  existence.  The  chain  of 
cause  and  effect,  of  demand  and  supply,  of 
variation  and  extension,  which  binds  differing 
beings  in  Unity,  would  be  broken,  and  the 
order  and  community  of  Being  rendered  im- 
possible. Hence,  while  no  being  can  be  en- 
tirely and  permanently  isolated  from  commun- 
ion with  others,  but  must  have  points  of  possible 
contact  with  them,  whereby  it  may  receive 
what  is  essential  to  its  existence  and  well-being, 
and  impart  what  is  essential  to  the  existence 
and  well-being  of  others,  each  must  be  pro- 
tected from  uncongenial  intrusions.  No  one 
being,  in  the  natural  and  just  order  of  beings, 
can  rightly  be  permitted  to  pass  into  the  domain 
of  another,  if  it  be  injurious  thereto ;  and  though 
the  two  be  mutually  dependent,  yet  the  degrees 
of  contact  must  be  limited  to  mutual  uses. 
Thus  the  food  which  the  hand  ministers  to  the 
stomach  through  the  gateway  of  the  mouth 


GATES.  115 

may  only  be  admitted  thereto  in  the  qualities 
and  quantities  required,  else  both  stomach  and 
hand  would  suffer  injury. 

What  is  true  of  our  physical  is  true  also  of 
our  moral  and  intellectual  natures.  All  the 
functions  and  faculties  of  our  social  being  need 
protection,  and  would  become  enslaved,  were 
they  not  surrounded  with  barriers  and  fur- 
nished with  gates  which  may  be  opened  and 
shut  at  will,  so  that  one  may  not  intrude  upon 
another  to  its  detriment.  And  if  there  be  a 
heaven,  a  social  order  of  perfect  liberty,  equal- 
ity, and  fraternity,  from  which  all  conditions  of 
sin,  selfishness,  and  oppression  are  excluded,  it 
must  be  protected  from  the  intrusions  of  sinful, 
selfish,  and  oppressive  spirits  (Gen.  3 :  24 ;  2 
Chron.  23:  19;  Ps.  118:  19,  20;  Matt.  18:  3; 
Luke  13:  24;  Rev.  21:  27).  None  can  be  per- 
mitted to  enter  who  are  indisposed  to  love  God 
and  their  fellow-men  ;  for  otherwise  the  exist- 
ence of  a  social  condition  of  peace  and  brother- 
hood would  be  impossible.  Nevertheless  it 
would  itself  represent  a  selfish  condition,  if  it 
were  exclusive  of  any  who,  in  the  culture  of 
true  religion,  were  disposed  to  fulfill  the  law  in 
love ;  and  so  its  walls  are  furnished  with  gates 
(Rev.  21 :  12)  whereby  it  may  be  brought  into 
contact  with  inferior  conditions  and  exert  its 


116       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

influence  upon  them,  and  receive  unto  itself  all 
congenial  spirits. 

It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  the  Tem- 
ple, which  was  intended  to  illustrate  and  apply 
the  principles  of  social  order,  as  defined  in  the 
moral  law,  should  have  been  surrounded  with 
a  wall  furnished  with  gates,  corresponding  in 
number  to  the  ten  Articles  of  the  law,  whereby 
all  persons  obedient  thereto  might  be  admitted, 
and  all  others  excluded;  and  though  its  pur- 
pose had  been  perverted — it  having  become  a 
den  of  thieves,  a  medium  of  social  oppression, 
a  nurse  of  worldly  pride  and  cupidity — it  no 
doubt  represented  in  theory  the  social  polity  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  Each  of  its  gates  was  a 
symbol,  not  only  of  a  privilege  but  also  of  a 
limitation  of  privilege,  being  designed  to  give 
entrance  to  all  persons  worthy  of  admission, 
and  to  exclude  all  unworthy.  Its  idea  was 
precisely  the  same  as  that  of  the  moral  law  it 
represented,  which,  while  affirming  a  social 
right,  decreed  also  the  forfeiture  of  such  right 
by  any  who  should  fail  to  recognize  and  respect 
it.  It  meant  that  an  idolater,  thief,  or  murderer, 
or  any  other  trespasser  upon  social  rights,  should 
not  be  permitted  to  enter,  while  at  the  same 
time  it  gave  entrance  to  all  who  were  obedient 
to  the  law. 


GATES.  117 

One  of  the  ten  gates  was  called  Beautiful, 
and  perhaps  intended  to  represent  the  prophetic 
idealism  associated  with  the  anticipation  of  the 
coming  Messiah.  The  psalms  and  prophecies 
of  the  Jewish  scriptures  abound  in  such  poetic 
conceptions.  Thus  we  read,  "Lift  up  your 
heads,  O  ye  gates,  and  be  ye  lifted  up,  ye  ever- 
lasting doors,  and  the  King  of  glory  shall  come 
in"(Ps.  24:  7;  118:  19,  20);  "I  will  make 
thy  windows  of  agates,  and  thy  gates  of  car- 
buncles, and  all  thy  borders  of  pleasant  stones  " 
(Isa.  54  :  12 ;  Ezek.  43  :  4).  That  the  gospel, 
which  fulfills  the  law  in  love,  should  be  thus 
idealized  as  a  gate  of  beauty  is  both  natural 
and  practical — it  being  in  fact  the  Beautiful 
Gate  of  entrance  to  the  Kingdom  of  God,  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem  (Gal.  4 :  26  ;  Rev.  3  :  12). 

Now  every  gate  that  God  builds  represents  a 
right  and  the  protection  of  that  right.  Indeed 
the  idea  of  righteousness  is  identical  therewith, 
for  no  right  could  exist  except  it  represent  a 
natural  privilege  or  immunity  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  law  of  God.  It  is  predicated  of 
the  social  nature  of  God,  and  as  he  is  absolute, 
is  eternal  and  invariable.  As  subjective,  it  is 
his  consciousness  and  will ;  as  objective,  its 
expression  is  in  our  just  relations  to  each  other 
in  outward  things.  Man,  being  in  God's  image, 


118       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

intuitively  apprehends  the  idea  of  right  to  the 
degree  of  his  development  in  conscience  and 
will  in  harmony  with  the  divine  consciousness 
and  will.  Its  spirit  is  justice  and  love ;  its  pur- 
pose is  beauty  and  joy;  its  operation  is  law  and 
order.  It  is  the  principle  of  harmony  in  the 
limitless  diversities  that  make  up  the  unity  of 
all  beings  in  one  Being,  and  is  therefore  in  its 
true  idea  wholly  social. 

By  human  rights,  therefore,  we  understand 
social  privileges  and  immunities  inherent  in  our 
nature  of  the  social  nature  of  God,  which  are 
essential  to  our  well-being,  and  are  either 
natural  or  acquired — derived  of  the  nature  of 
God,  or  justly  acquired  by  the  free  exercise  of 
our  natural  gifts.  All  are  gateways  or  channels 
of  communication  between  God  and  Man,  and 
man  and  man,  that,  to  the  degree  of  our  ability 
to  give  and  receive,  we  may  each  and  all  possess 
and  enjoy  all  things  in  common. 


PART  I. 

THE   GOSPEL  OF   LIBEETT. 

BY  liberty  we  understand  the  unrestricted 
possession,  exercise,  and  enjoyment  of  all  our 
natural  and  lawfully  acquired  rights.  But  as 
man  is  naturally  and  necessarily  a  social  being, 
his  freedom  is  also  social,  and  may  not  be  exer- 
cised by  one  irrespective  of  the  rights  of  an- 
other. It  is  impunity  in  obedience  to  the  law, 
but  not  in  violation  thereof.  In  fact  it  can 
exist  only  as  a  development  of  law,  and  may 
be  possessed  and  exercised  only  in  recognition 
thereof;  for  since  law  is  the  protection  of 
rights,  and  one  forfeits  such  protection  by  diso- 
bedience— is  deprived  of  his  rights  if  he  tres- 
passes upon  another's  rights,  and  is  placed 
under  duress— his  freedom  can  only  be  exercised 
in  observance  of  the  law  which  confers  it  upon 
him.  And  as  law  evolves  and  develops  neces- 
sity, freedom  consists  in  our  possession  of,  or 
ability  to  obtain,  the  necessities  of  life.  Thus 
to  be  free  to  move  we  must  be  furnished  with 
organs  essential  to  motion  ;  or  if  we  are  hungry 
119 


120  THE   GATE   CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

or  naked,  we  must  be  able  to  procure  food  or 
dress.  Hence  freedom  cannot  be  impunity  in 
dissipation  of  necessities,  or  independence  of 
anything  essential  to  our  well-being.  Every 
necessity,  representing,  as  it  does,  a  medium 
whereby  freedom  may  be  exercised,  is  essential 
thereto.  It  means  that  we  may  live,  but  not 
squander  our  means  of  livelihood — our  food  in 
gluttony,  our  drink  in  drunkenness,  our  dress 
in  extravagance,  or  any  other  necessity  in  ex- 
cess thereof ;  may  move,  but  not  intrude  upon 
forbidden  grounds.  In  fact,  law,  freedom,  and 
necessity  are  one,  and  neither  can  rightly  exist 
without  the  others  any  more  than  an  effect 
without  its  cause,  or  a  whole  without  its  parts. 
Hence,  if  society  be  free,  it  must  be  organized 
lawfully,  and  must  cultivate  all  necessities  of 
body  and  mind  essential  to  freedom,  and  those 
only  ;  and  each  individual  therein  must  be  obe- 
dient to  social  laws,  and  must  contribute  to 
social  necessities  according  to  his  ability. 

Now  as  all  things  of  God  must  have  a  true 
method  or  way  of  existence,  and  if,  as  we  be- 
lieve, the  true  method  or  way  in  which  society 
should  be  organized  is  represented  in  the  moral 
law  fulfilled  by  compulsory  processes  so  far  as 
is  necessary,  and  in  love  so  far  as  men  are 
disposed  or  can  be  persuaded  to  voluntary 


THE   GOSPEL  OF  LIBERTY.  121 

obedience,  it  is  plain  that  the  true  method  or 
way  of  the  development  of  social  freedom  is  in 
the  culture  of  obedience  and  love.  Yet  while 
the  moral  law  and  the  gospel  are  recognized  in 
all  the  more  enlightened  communities  of  our 
day  as  the  true  theories  of  social  order,  society 
is  far  from  free.  While  the  more  flagrant  and 
despotic  forms  of  oppression  have  been  put 
away,  others  more  subtle  but  not  less  destruct- 
ive of  human  rights,  and  parasitic  to  a  highly 
cultured  but  perverted  social  condition,  have 
been  evolved  and  developed.  Extremes  of 
riches  and  poverty,  of  refinement  and  brutality, 
of  learning  and  ignorance,  of  ease  and  drudgery, 
of  virtue  and  vice,  and  the  natural  sequences 
thereof — of  loathsome  and  tormenting  diseases 
and  infirmities  both  of  body  and  mind — are 
peculiar  to  our  present  civilization.  Shall  we 
conclude  then,  that  a  high  degree  of  culture  in 
the  enlightenment  of  true  religion  in  one  mem- 
ber or  class  of  society  is  necessarily  accom- 
panied with  a  corresponding  brutality  in  an- 
other?— that  one  must  be  illiterate  that  an- 
other may  be  learned  ?  that  one  must  be  poor 
that  another  may  be  rich? — or  that  one  must 
be  enslaved  that  another  may  be  free  ?  This 
cannot  be,  if  we  have  in  common  one  Father  in 
heaven,  who  has  bestowed  equal  natural  rights 


122  THE  GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

on  all  his  children,  and  has  equally  imparted  to 
all  natural  aspirations  for  knowledge,  riches, 
and  freedom.  And  yet — taking,  as  we  must 
and  should,  the  world  as  it  is,  not  as  it  should 
be — we  are  compelled  to  admit  that  social 
evils  whereby  our  freedom  is  limited  are 
natural  incidents  of  the  false  culture  of  true 
religion  as  taught  in  the  law  and  the  gospel ; 
for  such  religion,  being  only  a  light  shining  in 
darkness  (Isa.  9:2;  Matt.  4 :  16),  must  render 
by  contrast  the  surrounding  darkness  the  more 
intense,  and  may  itself,  to  the  degree  of  our 
selfishness,  be  perverted  to  unnatural  uses  by 
revealing  opportunities  of  evil  not  before  con- 
ceived of  in  our  ignorance.  As  without  in- 
crease in  knowledge  there  could  be  no  greater 
subtleties  of  evil  disclosed,  and  without  law 
there  could  be  no  transgressions  of  the  law 
(Rom.  7  :  7),  so  without  the  gospel  there  could 
be  no  perversions  of  the  gospel  (1  Pet.  2: 
16).  As  the  Christian  religion  is  but  par- 
tially applied,  it  is  also  partially  perverted ; 
and,  as  the  better  anything  is  the  worse  it  in- 
evitably becomes  by  perversion,  so  in  society, 
while  accepting  the  gospel  in  theory,  yet  failing 
to  apply  its  principles  in  practice,  new  and 
greater  social  evils  are  developed  thereby  than 
could  otherwise  exist.  Nevertheless,  our  only 


THE   GOSPEL  OF   LIBERTY.  123 

possible  increase  in  freedom  lies  in  our  culture 
of  true  religion  ;  for  while  its  perversion  pro- 
duces bondage,  yet  in  its  right  use  is  presented 
our  only  hope  of  redemption  from  social  op- 
pression. Thus,  a  slave  may  be  personally  bet- 
ter off  as  a  slave  than  as  a  freeman,  since  he 
may,  if  set  free,  pervert  his  liberty  to  indul- 
gence in  vice  or  crime,  yet  by  freedom  only  is 
it  possible  for  him  to  attain  a  nobler  manhood. 

While,  therefore,  our  primary  efforts  in  the 
culture  of  true  religion  should  be  exerted  to 
the  promotion  of  a  larger  liberty,  we  must  not 
forget  that  we  can  be  free  only  so  far  as  we 
make  good  use  of  our  freedom.  We  must  not 
be  too  precipitate  in  abandoning  the  restrictions 
of  the  law  for  the  freedom  of  the  gospel — not 
as  if  in  our  present  imperfections  and  limita- 
tions we  had  already  attained  or  were  already 
perfect  (Phil.  3:  12) — lest  our  liberty  in  the 
gospel  become  only  license,  and  develop  social 
anarchy.  The  precept  of  the  Christ  addressed 
to  his  disciples,  that  they  should  not  resist  evil 
(Matt.  5 :  39),  applied  only  to  the  members  of 
his  Church  in  their  social  relations  with  each 
other,  and  not  to  the  world ;  for  he  came  not  to 
destroy  the  law,  arid  if  evil  in  a  sinful  world 
were  not  resisted  the  law  would  be  destroyed. 

Now  as  the  Ten  Commandments  represent  all 


124  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

the  natural  and  lawfully  acquired  rights  of 
man,  and  as  true  freedom  is  the  free  exercise 
and  enjoyment  of  such  rights,  we  may  define 
thereby  all  the  primary  elements  of  freedom. 
Moreover,  so  far  as  cultured  by  the  law,  the 
privilege  of  entrance  to  the  Temple  through  its 
ten  gates,  each  representing  a  right  affirmed  by 
the  law,  was  a  symbol  of  freedom.  And  as  the 
gate  called  Beautiful  represented  the  prophetic 
and  highest  ideal  of  religion — of  the  law  ful- 
filled in  love — the  Christian  religion  is  our 
highest  conception  of  freedom.  The  same  ideal 
is  illustrated  in  the  parable  of  the  sheepfold. 
Our  Lord  declares  that  he  himself  is  the  door 
by  which  his  sheep  are  permitted  to  enter  and 
find  protection,  and  by  which  they  may  go  out 
and  find  pasture — protection  in  their  natural 
rights,  and  freedom  to  procure  a  livelihood  by 
their  own  industry.  All  who  seek  to  enter  by 
some  other  way — to  secure  protection  in  any 
other  way  than  by  obedience  to  the  principles 
of  the  law  and  the  gospel — are  thieves  and 
robbers. 

Yet  the  fact  that  social  freedom,  like  a  gate, 
is  necessarily  restrictive  and  limited  to  mutual 
uses,  renders  it  possible,  when  the  door  by 
which  such  restriction  and  limitation  is  secured 
is  under  control  of  selfish  men,  to  make  the 


THE   GOSPEL   OF   LIBERTY.  125 

fold  a  medium  of  oppression — a  prison  or  a  den 
of  thieves.  Thus  it  was  when  Peter  and  John 
went  up  to  the  temple  at  the  hour  of  prayer, 
that,  while  the  poor  beggar  was  excluded, 
thieves  and  robbers  were  admitted.  The  letter 
of  the  law  had  been  preserved,  but  its  spirit 
and  purpose  were  destroyed.  Thus  the  law 
reads,  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal  " — that  is,  shalt 
not  deprive  another  of  his  natural  and  justly 
acquired  possessions, — but  the  demons  of  sel- 
fishness and  pride  that  take  possession  of  the 
human  heart  had  taken  possession  also  of  the 
Temple,  and  had  fortified  themselves  therein, 
having  perverted  the  law  to  the  protection  of 
riches  unnaturally  and  unjustly  acquired. 
Indeed  every  thief  who  has  acquired  his  pos- 
sessions by  robbing  or  enslaving  others,  com- 
pelling them  to  devote  their  natural  gifts  of 
God  and  the  increase  of  their  labors  to  his  ex- 
clusive use,  making  them  poor  that  he  may  be 
rich,  brutish  that  he  may  be  refined,  ignorant 
that  he  may  be  learned,  drudges  that  he  may  be 
indolent,  is  prone  to  justify  himself  by  the 
letter  of  the  law  which  he  himself  has  violated 
in  spirit  ( Rom.  2 :  21,  23 ).  Being  in  possession 
of  property  and  privilege  that  he  has  acquired 
by  unjust  means — by  the  oppression  of  others — 
he  claims  protection  in  the  law,  saying  to  the 


126       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

poor  whom  he  has  robbed,  when  they  seek  to 
recover  their  rights  of  life,  liberty,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness,  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal."  No 
person  who  is  unwilling  to  confer  freedom  on 
others  is  himself  entitled  to  freedom  ;  nor,  if  he 
be  unwilling  that  the  rights  of  others  be  pro- 
tected, is  he  entitled  to  protection  in  his  own 
rights. 

But  we  may  not  assume  that,  because  others 
are  in  possession  of  greater  wealth  than  we, 
they  are  necessarily  thieves ;  or  that  capitalists 
who  have  laborers  under  their  control  are 
necessarily  tyrants  ;  for  they  may  have  acquired 
their  possessions  by  the  legitimate  exercise  of 
their  natural  rights — by  the  freedom  and  privi- 
lege conferred  in  the  right  use  of  their  natural 
and  justly  acquired  gifts  of  God — although  they 
would  be  thieves  and  tyrants  if  they  did  not 
use  their  riches  for  the  promotion  of  the  best 
interests  of  others  as  well  as  of  their  own.  In 
short,  if  the  law  be  fulfilled  in  selfishness  and 
not  in  love,  it  becomes  simply  a  refined  system 
of  oppression,  enabling  the  rich  to  enslave  the 
poor ;  and  as  selfishness  is  universal  in  a  sinf uL 
world,  all  laws  are  more  or  less  perverted  to 
selfish  purposes.  "  What  then  ?  Is  the  law 
sin?  God  forbid.  Nay,  I  had  not  known  sin 
but  by  the  law ;  for  I  had  not  known  lust,  ex- 


THE  GOSPEL   OF   LIBERTY.  127 

cept  the  law  had  said,  Thou  shalt  not  covet." 
The  law  teaches  us  what  our  rights  are,  and 
that  trespassing  thereon  is  sin,  and  is,  therefore, 
an  inestimable  blessing  if  fulfilled,  both  in  letter 
and  spirit.  Without  such  knowledge  we  should 
in  our  ignorance  of  human  rights  have  con- 
tinued to  trespass  thereon,  and  as  a  natural  and 
inevitable  sequence  of  such  ignorance  poverty, 
thralldom,  and  death  would  have  continued  to 
reign  as  they  reigned  from  Adam  to  Moses 
(Rom.  5 :  14).  Hence,  we  must  conclude  that 
social  freedom  is  possible  of  attainment  only  by 
obedience  to  the  law  and  its  fulfillment  in  love 
(John  8:  32;  2  Cor.  3:  6;  Gah  4:  3-5;  5:  3-6). 
While,  therefore,  the  law  is  essential  to  free- 
dom, it  cannot  itself  alone  redeem  a  selfish  and 
sinful  world  from  bondage,  and  if  perverted  be- 
comes a  bulwark  of  oppression.  And  no  doubt 
it  is  so  perverted  in  our  day  that  most  men 
have  become  enslaved  thereby — enabling,  as  it 
does,  a  few  to  become  rich,  and  compelling  the 
masses  to  remain  poor.  Can  we  wonder,  then, 
that  so  many  have  come  to  regard  all  laws  en- 
acted for  the  protection  of  social  rights  as 
devices  of  the  rich  for  the  enslavement  of  the 
poor,  and  would  destroy  all  laws  human  or 
divine  that  they  may  attain  redemption  from 
social  oppression?  But  the  principles — if  we 


128        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

may  call  them  principles — of  anarchy  or  nihil- 
ism are  not  such  as  evolve  and  develop  social 
freedom,  but  are  hostile  thereto  except  they 
represent  the  law  fulfilled  in  love ;  for  laws 
natural  and  moral  are  the  sources  of  freedom, 
and  without  such  laws  there  could  be  no  natural 
or  justly  acquired  rights.  Hence,  when  St. 
Paul  asserts  (Rom.  6 :  14)  that  the  true  Chris- 
tian is  no  longer  under  the  law,  he  does  not 
mean  that  the  law  has  been  abolished,  but  has 
been  fulfilled — obeyed  voluntarily  through  love 
of  and  devotion  to  the  principles  of  truth  and 
freedom  asserted  in  and  maintained  by  the  law. 
It  may  be  said,  however,  that  all  civil  laws  are 
unjust,  being  enacted  by  the  rich  for  the  en- 
slavement of  the  poor ;  which  is  no  doubt  true 
so  far  as  such  laws  represent  the  corruption 
and  perversion  of  the  laws  of  God ;  and  as 
selfishness  is  universal  all  civil  laws  are  no 
doubt  leavened  therewith.  Still,  as  our  nature 
is  not  utterly  depraved  and  may  be  improved 
by  art,  so  also  may  the  corrupt  social  systems 
we  have  constructed  be  reformed.  Plainly 
civil  laws  cannot  be  reformed  by  their  destruc- 
tion any  more  than  Cain  or  Saul  could  have 
been  reformed  had  they  been  put  to  death; 
howbeit  both  sinful  society  and  the  laws  it 
makes  will  be  destroyed,  and  in  the  dispensa- 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  LIBERTY.          129 

tion  of  God's  providence,  often  have  been,  when, 
found  incapable  of  improvement. 

While,  therefore,  there  is  a  hope  or  possibility 
of  increased  social  freedom,  we  must  render 
unto  Ceesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  and 
unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's  (Matt.  22 : 
21).  In  fact,  we  cannot  do  otherwise,  in  so 
selfish  and  sinful  a  world  as  this,  than  appeal 
unto  Csesar  for  the  protection  of  the  rights  and 
liberties  we  do  possess,  which  would  be  utterly 
extirpated  with  the  extirpation  of  civil  laws. 
This  necessity,  however,  of  submission  to  Caesar 
is  not  a  sufficient  apology  for  the  selfishness 
and  cupidity  by  which  one  class  of  society  is 
enslaved  by  another ;  for  any  person  who  does 
not  do  all  he  can  to  reform  the  civil  laws,  and 
right  the  wrongs  which  others  suffer,  is  person- 
ally responsible  therefore,  and  is  justly  reckoned 
as  a  tyrant,  thief,  and  robber. 

But  how,  it  may  be  asked,  can  we  submit  to 
be  wronged  by  an  unjust  and  oppressive  social 
system,  and  at  the  same  time  defend  and  exer- 
cise our  natural  rights?  How  can  we  consent 
to  be  slaves  and  at  the  same  time  assert  and 
maintain  our  rightful  freedom?  This  is  the 
great  social  problem  of  our  times,  and  the  one 
which  the  gospel  of  the  Christ  alone  can  solve 
— although  not  even  the  gospel  can  solve  it  ex- 


130  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

cept  to  the  degree  we  accept  and  practically 
apply  its  principles.  Nay,  we  do  not  hesitate 
to  affirm  that  omnipotence  is  incapable  of  con- 
ferring freedom  upon  any  who  do  not  accept 
and  practice  the  moral  and  religious  principles 
from  which  alone  freedom  is  evolved  and  de- 
veloped. Even  the  Christ  was  compelled  to 
submit  to  Caesar  until  his  earthly  mission  was 
completed  on  the  cross.  Like  him  we  should 
be  "wise  as  serpents  and  harmless  as  doves " 
(Matt.  10 :  16) ;  and  if  we  follow  his  counsels, 
no  doubt  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness  (Luke 
16 :  9)  may  be  made  the  friend  of  the  poor,  and 
even  Csesar  the  defender  of  our  rights  and 
liberties. 

What  is  true  in  theory  is  the  moral  law  prac- 
tically interpreted  by  the  gospel ;  and  what  is 
true  in  practice  is  the  application  of  the  law  to 
the  establishment  of  free  institutions  as  we  are 
able  to  bear  them.  No  doubt  it  is  useless,  as 
affirmed  in  our  institutes  of  civil  law,  to  legis- 
late now  for  societ}'  as  it  should  be  hereafter ; 
that  is,  to  attempt  to  establish  and  enforce 
principles  of  which  the  masses  are  ignorant  and 
not  yet  able  to  bear  them ;  but  we  should  not 
infer  that  we  can  do  nothing  for  society  as  it 
should  be— for  the  promotion  of  a  larger  liberty 
— because  all  are  selfish ;  for  to  the  degree  we 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  LIBERTY.  131 

know  the  truth,  the  truth  may  be  practically 
applied,  and  to  the  degree  it  is  so  applied  will 
it  set  us  free.  Said  the  Christ  to  his  disciples : 
"  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but 
ye  cannot  hear  them  now,  howbeit  when  he, 
the  Spirit  of  Truth,  is  come,  he  will  guide  you 
into  all  truth,  and  will  show  you  things  to 
come."  Except  to  the  degree  we  understand 
"what  the  true  theory  of  freedom  is,  it  is  useless 
to  attempt  to  legislate  for  its  promotion.  Yet 
no  person  is  a  true  follower  of  the  Christ,  or  a 
believer  in  his  gospel  of  freedom,  who  does  not 
both  in  religion  and  politics  exert  his  utmost 
influence  for  the  promotion  and  protection  of 
the  rights  and  liberties  of  his  fellow-men. 
While  opposing  all  socialistic  theories  other 
than  the  moral  law  and  the  gospel,  which  in- 
terpret freedom  as  impunity  from  all  restraint 
in  our  selfish  condition,  we  should  favor  all 
measures  that  tend  to  limit  and  restrain  cupid- 
ity and  oppression.  Indeed  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  if  the  churches  were  not  corrupted 
by  worldliness,  politics  would  be  so  leavened 
and  purified  with  the  Spirit  of  Truth  that  most 
of  the  many  and  great  refinements  and  subtleties 
of  cruelty  and  oppression  incident  to  our  present 
civilization  would  be  immediately  suppressed. 
Now  that  the  gospel  of  the  Christ  is  the  gos- 


132  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

pel  of  freedom,  and  that  it  was  intended  to  be 
practically  applied  and  illustrated  by  the  church 
in  this  life  that  we  may  be  eased  of  our  bur- 
dens here,  and  also  prepared  for  admission  to 
the  Kingdom  of  God  in  which  all  are  free,  can- 
not be  reasonably  questioned.  As  religion  is 
unity,  and  as  true  unity  can  exist  only  in  just 
social  relations,  and  just  social  relations  only 
in  freedom,  it  is  evident  that  if  Christianity  be 
the  true  religion  it  must  represent  both  unity 
and  freedom.  In  fact  it  is  expressly  declared 
that  the  mission  of  the  Christ  as  defined  by  the 
prophets,  was  to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  cap- 
tive, to  break  every  yoke,  and  let  the  oppressed 
go  free.  He  also  himself  declared,  when  he 
practically  entered  upon  his  mission,  that  he 
came  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised. 
And  surely  he  would  not  have  declared,  "  if 
the  Son  shall  make  you  free  ye  shall  be  free  in- 
deed," or  have  invited  all  who  were  weary  and 
heavy  laden  to  come  unto  him  for  rest,  if  his 
mission  were  not  to  establish  social  freedom. 
"  Our  citizenship,"  says  St.  Paul,  "is  in  heaven  " 
— that  is,  the  Church  on  earth,  if  uncorrupted, 
represents  and  is  the  Kingdom  of  God ;  and  if 
we  are  all  true  members  thereof  we  are  mem- 
bers of  that  Kingdom,  and  are  accounted  as 
already  free  (1  Cor.  7:  22;  Gal.  4:  31). 


THE   GOSPEL   OF   LIBERTY.  133 

We  must,  therefore,  as  the  Christ  teaches, 
and  in  imitation  of  his  example,  recognize  and 
practically  illustrate  in  the  Church  the  Father- 
hood of  God  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man,  or 
we  cannot  attain  unto  the  glorious  liberty  of 
the  sons  of  God  (Rom.  8:  21).  All  other 
social  theories,  brotherhoods,  unions,  societies, 
or  orders,  unless  founded  on  the  principles  of 
the  law  and  the  gospel,  are  heresies,  wells  with- 
out water,  clouds  that  are  carried  with  a  tem- 
pest, promising  liberty  while  they  are  them- 
selves the  servants  of  corruption  (2  Pet.  2 :  1, 
17, 19). 


PART  II. 

THE  GOSPEL  OF   EQUALITY. 

WHILE  liberty  is  the  primary  requisite  to 
social  redemption,  such  redemption  being  possi- 
ble only  to  the  degree  we  are  free  to  use  and 
enjoy  all  our  natural  and  lawfully  acquired 
rights  and  possessions,  it  is  not  the  only  requi- 
site. One  may  be  a  free  man  under  the  law, 
and  yet  have  very  little  to  possess  or  enjoy, 
and  very  little  opportunity  or  capacity  to  ac- 
quire riches ;  in  which  case  his  freedom  would 
avail  him  little  to  the  promotion  of  his  social 
well-being.  Thus  this  poor  beggar  whom  Peter 
and  John  encountered  at  the  gate  called  Beau- 
tiful was  free  so  far  as  the  law  itself  could  con- 
fer freedom,  and  yet  was  unable  to  attain  social 
redemption.  The  gate  was  open,  but  he  was 
not  permitted  to  enter  on  account  of  his  in- 
firmity. 

Though  a  slave  be  set  free  from  the  legal 

control  of  his  master,  his  freedom  would  prove 

only  a  curse,  if  he  be  nnable  to  appreciate  or 

avail  himself  of  it  to  the  promotion  of  his  per- 

134 


THE   GOSPEL   OF   EQUALITY.  135 

soual  well-being.  So  also  a  free  system  of 
government — one  founded  on  the  letter  of  the 
moral  law,  and  asserting  the  right  of  every  in- 
dividual to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  hap- 
piness— will  inevitably  become  a  system  of 
oppression  if  its  laws  are  not  fulfilled  in  love — 
if  the  freedom  secured  permits  any  individual 
or  class  selfishly  to  accumulate  wealth  without 
restriction,  and  compels  the  masses  to  devote 
the  fruits  of  their  industry  to  the  enrichment  of 
the  few.  Any  system,  in  fact,  under  which  one 
man  or  class  is  permitted  to  possess  and  con- 
trol to  his  exclusive  use  more  than  his  just  por- 
tion of  the  natural  gifts  of  God  by  which  life 
is  sustained  and  wealth  accumulated — land, 
water,  air,  and  light,  and  even  the  personal 
gifts  of  body  and  mind  whereby  we  live  and 
move  and  are  enabled  to  create  riches  for  our- 
selves by  our  own  industry — practically  be- 
comes a  licensed  system  of  oppression ;  for,  how- 
ever true  in  the  letter,  it  is  a  thief  and  mur- 
derer in  spirit — a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing. 

In  short,  so  far  as  human  rights  are  selfishly 
interpreted,  freedom  becomes  a  farce — con- 
strued unsocially  to  mean  the  private  right  of 
any  individual  or  class  to  promote  his  own  in- 
terests regardless  of  the  interests  of  others, 
whereas  it  is  in  fact  his  right  and  ability  only 


136       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

to  promote  his  interests  equally  and  in  common 
with  all  other  members  of  society.  That  is, 
freedom  is  social,  not  selfish.  What  advantage 
is  it  to  be  protected  in  our  rights  by  the  letter 
of  the  law,  if  we  are  already  deprived  of  our 
rights  ? — permitted  to  become  rich,  if  we  have 
no  opportunity  to  accumulate  riches? — to  live, 
move,  and  have  our  being,  if  the  fruits  of  our 
industry  be  consumed  mostly  by  others,  and 
the  best  we  can  do  is  to  secure  a  scant  liveli- 
hood for  ourselves  and  families  by  constant  and 
excessive  toil?  Plainly  as  "faith  without 
works  is  dead,"  so  is  freedom  without  equality 
(Gal.  5:  13) — without  an  opportunity  at  least 
to  make  oneself  equal  with  others.  "If  a 
brother  or  sister  be  naked  and  destitute  of 
daily  food,  and  one  of  you  say  unto  them,  de- 
part in  peace,  be  ye  warned  and  filled,  not- 
withstanding ye  give  them  not  those  things 
which  are  needful  to  the  body ;  what  doth  it 
profit  ?  "  ( Jas.  2 :  15, 16).  Hence,  if  the  gospel 
of  the  Christ  be  the  true  religion,  and  repre- 
sents the  true  idea  of  social  unity  and  freedom, 
so  is  it  the  gospel  of  equality — that  which  not 
only  bestows  freedom,  but  also  the  opportunity 
of  its  use  and  enjoyment.  By  equality  we 
mean  equity,  and  by  equity  equal  opportunities 
for  acquirement,  possession  and  enjoyment. 


THE   GOSPEL   OF   EQUALITY.  137 

Now  the  gate  called  Beautiful  was  a  symbol 
of  freedom  so  far  as  the  law  could  confer  it, 
and,  in  like  sense,  of  equality.  It  meant  the 
equal  protection  of  the  natural  and  lawfully 
acquired  rights  of  all,  and  the  free  exercise 
thereof ;  and  as  the  sole  condition  of  entrance 
was  obedience  to  the  moral  law,  all  who  were 
obedient  were  equally  protected  in  their  pos- 
sessions and  privileges.  But  it  did  not  mean 
that  all  wero  made  equal  with  each  other  in 
their  natural  and  personal  gifts  and  possessions, 
for  such  equality  was  impossible  in  the  nature 
of  things.  An  obedient  child,  for  example, 
though  permitted  to  enter,  could  not  thereby 
be  made  equal  with  its  parents  in  authority, 
experience,  or  knowledge ;  nor  one  man  physic- 
ally weaker  than  another  equal  therewith  in 
strength ;  nor  one  poor  in  purse,  intelligence, 
or  moral  and  emotional  endowments  with  one 
rich  therein  (Matt.  6 :  27 ;  Rom.  1 2  :  6-8).  Such 
equality  could  not  be  immediately  and  arbi- 
trarily conferred  and  enforced  by  the  law — 
would  in  fact,  even  if  it  were  possible  to  enforce 
it,  be  inequality,  injustice,  and  oppression,  tak- 
ing that  which  rightfully  belonged  to  one  and 
conferring  it  upon  another.  No  person  who 
came  to  the  gate  seeking  entrance  to  the  privi- 
leges of  the  temple,  was  deprived  of  anything 


138  THE  GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

he  naturally  and  lawfully  possessed — the  sole 
condition  of  entrance  being  obedience  to  the 
law.  Yet  the  right  to  enter  secured  by  obe- 
dience, was  the  first  and  essential  requisite  of 
equality — it  being  self-evident  that  social 
equality  would  be  impossible  in  a  society  in 
which  murder,  theft,  covetousness,  and  other 
transgressions  of  human  rights  were  permitted. 
As  anarchy  without  true  religion  is  not  freedom, 
neither  is  it  equality ;  and  if,  as  we  have  seen, 
obedience  to  the  law  is  essential  to  freedom,  so 
also  must  it  be  to  equality.  Indeed  to  reduce, 
either  by  legal  or  brute  force,  the  superior  to  a 
level  with  the  inferior — to  limit  the  just  rights 
and  privileges  of  one  in  order  to  bestow  unjust 
rights  and  privileges  upon  another,  or  to  compel 
one  to  open  his  gate  to  the  admission  of  the 
thief  and  robber,  or  any  other  uncongenial  ele- 
ment of  society,  so  far  from  being  social  equal- 
ity, would  be  the  worst  conceivable  oppression 
and  inequality — would  be  compelling  us  to  cast 
our  pearls  to  swine  (Matt.  7  :  6). 

Moreover,  it  is  manifestly  impossible,  useless, 
or  wasteful  to  bestow  upon  any  person  more 
than  he  has  capacity  to  receive,  or  is  disposed 
to  use  for  the  promotion  of  his  real  interests. 
Thus,  a  child  cannot  come  into  possession  of 
manly  thoughts  and  acquirements  until  it  be- 


THE   GOSPEL   OF   EQUALITY.  139 

comes  a  man  and  puts  away  childish  things 
(1  Cor.  13 :  11) ;  and  it  would  be  a  waste  of 
treasure  to  bestow  it  upon  one  prodigal  and 
dissipated. 

But  while  the  true  idea  of  equality  is  not 
properly  defined  as  the  even  distribution  of  our 
possessions  and  acquirements  of  body  and  mind, 
it  does  mean  a  social  condition  in  which  all 
share  equally  with  each  other  in  opportunities 
for  improvement,  possession,  and  enjoyment — 
a  commonwealth  of  mutual  interests  and  ad- 
vantages— a  family,  brotherhood,  congregation 
or  church,  in  which  all  members  are  of  one 
heart  and  one  soul,  and  no  one  member  calls 
aught  of  the  things  he  possesses  exclusively  his 
own,  but  inclusively  his  in  common  with  all 
other  members. 

To  secure  such  equality  each  must  first  attain 
freedom  by  obedience  to  the  moral  law — that  is, 
must  be  a  moral  man,  so  that,  if  equality  be 
conferred  upon  him,  he  will  respect  the  rights 
of  others  ;  and  second,  must  fulfill  the  law  in 
love — that  is,  not  because  he  is  compelled  to  do 
BO,  or  merely  for  his  own  self-interest,  but 
through  devotion  to  right  principles  and  the 
unselfish  love  of  God  and  man.  As  no  man 
who  loves  God  and  his  fellow-men  could  either 
desire  to  be  inferior  to  others,  or  that  others 


140  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

should  be  inferior  to  himself,  every  person  who 
seeks  to  fulfill  the  law  in  love  seeks  to  promote 
social  equality — not  by  either  debasing  others 
to  an  inferior  social  position,  or  by  exalting 
himself  above  others,  but  by  striving  to  pro- 
mote the  well-being  of  all.  Hence,  as  the  ful- 
filling of  the  law  in  love  is  Christianity,  no 
person  can  be  a  member  of  the  true  church  who 
does  not  seek  to  promote  social  equality — first, 
by  becoming  equal  in  his  industry  and  thrift 
with  all  other  members  who  are  superior  to 
himself  in  good  gifts,  and  second,  by  helping 
to  make  all  others  who  are  inferior  equal  with 
himself  (Isa.  35:  3,  4;  Heb.  12:  12,  13).  In- 
deed, the  moment  one  becomes  a  true  member 
of  the  true  church  is  he  placed  in  a  position  of 
equality  with  all  other  members,  having  thereby 
become  free  therein  from  all  injustice  and  op- 
pression, and  given  to  the  degree  of  his  ability 
to  receive  every  opportunity  and  privilege  for 
acquirement,  possession,  and  enjoyment  which 
any  and  all  other  members  possess.  Even  as 
our  faith  is  counted  unto  us  for  righteousness 
(Gen.  15 :  6 ;  Ps.  106  :  31)  while  we  are  still 
otherwise  imperfect,  so  may  equality  be  im- 
puted to  all  true  members  of  the  church,  how- 
ever unequal  they  may  otherwise  be  in  natural 
or  acquired  gifts,  or  however  small  and  feeble 


THE   GOSPEL  OP   EQUALITY.  141 

the  congregation  in  numbers  and  resources. 
Thus  the  man  Jesus,  though  despised  and  per- 
secuted on  earth,  yet,  being  in  the  form  of  God, 
thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God 
(Phil.  2:6);  and  while  no  man  can  be  above 
his  master  (Matt.  10  :  24,  25),  he  may  be  as  his 
Master — nay,  perfect,  as  his  Father  in  heaven 
is  perfect.  The  equality  which  Jesus  claimed 
with  the  Father  was  free  and  equal  participa- 
tion with  him  in  his  limitless  glory,  life,  riches, 
knowledge,  authority  and  power;  not,  how- 
ever, that  he  sought  to  be  personally  as  great  as 
the  Father,  as  in  the  nature  of  things  sonship, 
being  secondary  to  fatherhood,  dependent 
thereon,  and  existing  therein,  is  subordinate 
thereto — and  he  expressly  declares  his  Father 
to  be  greater  than  he  (John  14  :  28) — but  that 
he  was  one  with  Him  in  interests,  and  therefore 
through  free  and  limitless  participation  was 
equal  with  him, — even  as  every  son,  though  not 
as  great  as  his  father,  naturally  partakes 
equally  with  him  in  all  his  possessions.  Social 
equality,  then,  is  not  equality  in  personal 
merits,  that  being  impossible  in  the  nature  of 
things,  but  in  the  use  and  enjoyment  of  each 
other's  merits  according  to  our  abilities.  It  is 
the  "  wedding  garment,"  in  which  all  must  be 
clothed  who  are  permitted  to  partake  in 


142       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

common  of  social  privileges  (Matt.  22:  11), 
however  unequal  they  may  be  in  their  natural 
gifts  and  acquirements,  and  in  the  seats  they 
properly  occupy  (Luke  14:  10).  Otherwise 
social  chaos  would  ensue,  and  there  could  be  no 
authority  or  moral  law,  each  individual,  how- 
ever deficient  in  culture,  regarding  himself  of 
equal  merit  with  any  other,  however  superior. 

It  is,  therefore,  taught  in  the  gospel  as  an 
essential  principle  of  freedom  and  equality  that 
all  members  of  the  church  must  be  subject  to 
the  higher  powers  (Rom.  13:  1-7);  "for  there 
is  no  power  but  of  God,  and  whosoever  resist- 
eth  the  power  resisteth  the  ordinance  of  God." 
While  every  true  member  is  a  power  of  God, 
and  there  is  no  limit  placed  upon  his  acquire- 
ments, he  is  always  himself  subject  to  a  higher 
power,  "  which  is  a  minister  of  God  to  him  for 
good." 

Each  person  must  occupy  the  position  to 
which  his  merits  entitle  him  and  as  these  in- 
crease he  will  be  called  to  come  up  higher. 
Such,  no  doubt,  is  the  Kingdom  of  God — a 
social  condition  of  limitless  increase  in  knowl- 
edge, happiness,  and  power.  No  person  should 
think  of  himself  more  highly  than  he  ought  to 
think  (Rom.  12 :  3-5),  "for  as  we  have  many 
members  in  one  body,  and  all  members  have 


THE   GOSPEL  OF   EQUALITY.  143 

not  the  same  office,  so  we,  being  many,  are  one 
body  in  Christ,  and  all  members  one  of  another." 

But  while  in  a  condition  of  social  equality 
one  is  superior  to  another  in  merits,  and  is 
thereby  entitled  to  exercise  a  greater  authority, 
yet  all  are  subject  one  to  another  (1  Pet.  5 :  5) 
— the  superior  being  the  greater  servant,  greater 
responsibilities  being  imposed  upon  him  (Matt. 
23  :  11).  Thus  one  who  is  rich  in  this  world's 
goods  is  required  to  distribute  among  his 
poorer  brethren  (Matt.  19  :  21 ;  1  Tim.  6:  18) ; 
one  that  is  strong,  to  support  the  weak  (Rom. 
15  :  1) ;  one  that  is  wise  and  learned,  to  in- 
struct the  foolish  and  unlearned  (2  Tim.  2:2); 
one  that  is  happy,  to  contribute  to  the  happi- 
ness of  others  (John  15  :  11  ;  17 :  13 ;  2  Cor.  1 : 
24) — thereby  sharing  his  gifts  with  other  mem- 
bers of  the  household  as  they  have  need  (Acts 
2:  45;  Gal.  6:  10). 

Another  principle  of  equality  is  that  no 
member  of  the  church  should  owe  another  any- 
thing, except  to  love  him  ;  and  for  this  reason, 
that  that  debt  is  an  obligation  of  the  law,  and 
when  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  love  all  such  obliga- 
tions are  discharged  (Matt.  6  :  12;  Rom.  13  : 
8).  Every  debt,  except  of  love,  is  bondage,  and 
there  can  be  no  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth  ex- 
cept to  the  degree  its  members  are  forgiven 


144       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

their  debts,  and  have  forgiven  their  debtors. 
All  interests  being  in  common,  the  debts  and 
credits  of  each  become  those  of  all,  and  are 
thereby  extinguished ;  and  though  one  receives 
more  than  he  gives,  yet  if  he  gives  all  he  is 
capable  of  bestowing  he  is  not  a  debtor ;  or  if 
he  gives  more  than  he  receives  he  is  not  made 
a  creditor  thereby,  having  done  no  more  than 
love  requires.  Thus  while  the  child  receives 
from  its  parents  more  than  it  can  bestow  upon 
them,  yet  if  they  love  one  another  there  is  no 
debt  or  credit  incurred.  By  love  is  not  meant 
simply  an  emotion,  although  it  develops  pure 
emotion,  but  a  religious  sense  of  duty  and 
mutual  obligations,  evolved  and  developed  of 
our  social  nature,  which  leads  us  to  do  unto 
others  as  we  would  they  should  do  unto  us. 
Pure  love  is  more  than  unselfish,  and  im- 
pels us  to  sacrifice  our  personal  interests,  if 
need  be,  to  the  promotion  of  the  well-being  of 
others  who  are  less  fortunate  than  we — to  sell 
all  that  we  have,  if  need  be,  to  give  to  the 
poor,  thus  making  ourselves  poor  that  others 
may  be  rich — howbeit  every  sacrifice  of  love 
makes  us  ultimately  the  richer  therefor  (Matt. 
5  :  3 ;  19 :  21).  Thus,  however  rich  a  man  may 
be,  yet  if  he  becomes  a  member  of  a  true 
church,  in  which  all  sktre  equally  in  the  in- 


THE   GOSPEL  OP   EQUALITY.  145 

crease  of  each  other's  possessions,  his  riches 
are  increased  thereby,  however  poor  his  fellow- 
members  may  be  ;  for  equality  in  the  church 
practically  puts  each  member  in  possession  of 
the  combined  riches  of  all,  and  as  the  church  is 
the  household  of  God,  its  power  to  possess  is 
unlimited. 

This  reasoning,  however,  will  not  be  con- 
vincing if  we  judge  simply  by  appearances, 
but  is  absolutely  conclusive  if  we  judge  right- 
eous judgment  (Joha  7  :  24).  Appearances 
are  deceptive  because  our  eyes  are  full  of  the 
motes  of  selfishness,  and  these  render  that 
which  is  righteous — that  which  is  for  our  best 
interests — seemingly  subversive  thereof.  To 
judge  righteous  judgment — to  understand 
what  is  really  for  our  best  interests — we  must 
cast  out  from  our  eyes  these  motes  of  selfish- 
ness, and  look  upon  each  other  with  pure  eyes 
of  love — without  dissimulation  (Rom.  12 :  9) — 
not  greedy  eyes,  seeking  only  our  own  (1  Cor. 
13  :  5). 

Now,  in  order  to  determine  accurately  what 
are  our  own  best  interests,  we  must  have  a 
right  idea  of  riches,  and  of  the  relative  values 
of  the  differing  kinds  thereof  to  each  other; 
for  otherwise  we  may  be  satisfied  with  those 
of  inferior  value,  which  perish  in  the  using. 


146        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

Plainly  the  value  of  riches  is  determined  by 
the  blessings  derived  therefrom,  either  material 
or  spiritual — food,  clothing,  shelter,  strength, 
health,  knowledge,  life,  power,  joy ;  and  by  the 
greatness  and  durability  of  such  blessings.  In 
themselves  they  have  no  value  more  than 
talents  laid  up  in  a  napkin  or  a  tree  barren  of 
fruit,  but  from  their  increase  they  become  the 
source  of  all  good  things  (Deut.  16  :  15  ;  Col. 
2 :  19).  But  if  such  increase  is  derived  by  op- 
pressing the  poor,  it  renders  our  riches  not  only 
valueless,  but  a  curse  rather  than  a  blessing 
(Prov.  22  :  16 ;  Rev.  3  : 17),  and  for  this  reason, 
that  they  are  perverted  to  selfish  purposes,  and 
selfishness  is  the  parasitic  worm  which  smites 
and  destroys  all  blessings  as  it  destroyed 
Jonah's  gourd.  Our  social  nature  forbids  that 
we  should  enjoy  the  increase  of  riches,  except 
to  the  degree  we  share  equally,  that  is  justly, 
therein,  for  otherwise  they  are  consumed  by 
moths  or  rust,  or  stolen  by  thieves  (Job.  13 : 
28 ;  Matt.  6  :  19  ;  Jas.  5  :  1-3).  In  a  world  full 
of  moths,  rust,  and  thieves  we  cannot  and 
ought  not  to  bestow  on  others  more  than  they 
are  capable  of  making  good  use  of,  and  are 
justly  entitled  to  receive,  yet  in  the  true 
church,  in  which  all  are  brethren,  and  selfish- 
ness, together  with  the  evil  parasites  selfishness 


THE  GOSPEL   OP   EQUALITY.  147 

produces,  is  excluded,  each  may  enjoy  not  only 
the  full  increase  of  his  own  riches,  but  also 
that  of  each  other  member.  In  fact,  it  is  not 
possible,  except  in  a  very  limited  and  transient 
sense,  to  become  rich  in  any  other  social  condi- 
tion than  that  in  which  the  law  is  fulfilled  in 
love  ;  for  the  law  must  be  fulfilled,  and  if  not 
in  love  must  be  in  selfishness,  and  if  in  selfish- 
ness, all  good  gifts  sooner  or  later  are  con- 
sumed and  destroyed  by  parasites.  And  we 
are  selfish  if  we  are  unwilling  that  others  who 
are  willing  to  help  themselves,  and  are  equally 
obedient  to  the  laws  of  God  in  letter  and  spirit, 
should  have  equal  opportunities  with  ourselves 
for  the  acquirement  of  riches. 

Doubtless  no  person  will  question  that  all 
good  gifts  come  from  God  (Jas.  1:  17),  or  that 
we  can  give  only  as  we  have  received  from 
him  j  but  it  is  as  certainly  true  that  we  can  re- 
ceive only  as  we  give  (Luke  6 :  38),  for  if  we 
fail  to  give  as  we  have  received  we  shall  lose  that 
we  have  gained  (Mark  8 :  35).  Judging  by  ap- 
pearances, and  blinded  by  selfishness,  we  are 
likely  to  regard  this  as  untrue,  it  being  a  mat- 
ter of  common  observation  that  those  who  are 
too  selfish  to  give  as  they  receive  appear  to  ac- 
cumulate riches,  and  logically  it  would  seem 
certain  that  the  more  we  give  the  less  we  have. 


148  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

Yet  a  moment's  reflection  is  conclusive  that  the 
propositions  of  the  Christ  are  both  theoretically 
and  practically  true ;  for  if  our  very  nature 
and  being  are  social,  anything  in  conflict  there- 
with is  destructive  thereof ;  and  as  the  value 
of  riches  is  determined  by  the  blessings  they 
bestow,  they  are  certainly  decreased  in  value 
to  the  degree  they  are  hoarded  or  not  used 
for  the  well-being  of  society,  and  rendered  in- 
capable of  bestowing  blessings.  And  they  are 
certainly  hoarded  and  wasted  if  one  who  is  un- 
willing to  give  as  he  receives  is  permitted  to 
accumulate  them.  Nor  is  the  individual  him- 
self who  thus  acquires  wealth  able  to  enjoy  it, 
but  on  the  contrary  is  oppressed  and  cursed 
thereby  (Rev.  3 :  17;  18:  7,8) — the  same  being 
true  of  nations  as  of  individuals.  Indeed,  as 
asserted  by  the  Christ,  it  is  easier  for  a  camel 
to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  a 
rich  man  to  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  God — 
that  is,  one  who  has  laid  up  treasures  for  him- 
self and  is  not  rich  toward  God  (Luke  12 :  21) ; 
and  one  cannot  be  rich  toward  God  without 
being  rich  toward  his  fellow-men.  But  on  the 
other  hand  nothing  is  easier  than  for  a  rich  man 
to  become  a  true  member  of  the  Church,  who, 
though  rich  in  purse,  is  poor  in  spirit  (Matt. 
5:  1) — not  satisfied  with  silver  and  gold  only, 


THE   GOSPEL   OF   EQUALITY.  149 

but  seeking  to  invest  them  in  higher  riches ; 
for  as  we  receive  as  \ve  give,  and  one  who  is 
rich  can  give  more  easily  and  abundantly  than 
one  who  is  poor,  he  can  the  more  easily  enter 
into  the  Kingdom  of  God.  To  the  rich  man 
who  thus  makes  good  use  of  his  talents  shall 
be  given,  and  he  shall  have  more  abundance  ; 
but  to  the  poor  man  who  doth  not  seek  such 
increase  shall  be  taken  away  that  which  he 
hath  (Matt.  13:  12). 

While  nothing  can  be  more  certainly  true 
than  that  we  receive  only  as  we  give,  yet  so 
deceived  are  we  by  appearances,  and  so  great 
is  the  deceitfulness  of  earthly  riches  held  in  the 
spirit  of  cupidity  and  worldly  pride  (1  John  2 : 
16),  that  doubtless  most  members  of  the 
church  in  our  day  regard  equality  therein, 
whereby  all  are  permitted  to  share  equally  in 
each  other's  blessings,  as  unjust  and  impossible 
of  practical  realization.  The  idea,  however, 
that  any  person  however  rich  or  poor  can  be 
wronged  by  loving  his  brethren  in  the  church 
as  himself  is  absurd  and  inconsistent  with  the 
purpose  and  spirit  of  the  gospel.  Says  St. 
Paul :  "  If  there  be  first  a  willing  mind,  it  is 
accepted  according  to  that  a  man  hath,  and  not 
according  to  that  he  hath  not.  For  I  mean  not 
that  other  men  be  eased  and  ye  be  burdened, 


150       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

but  by  an  equality,  that  now  at  this  time  your 
abundance  may  be  supply  for  their  want,  that 
their  abundance  also  may  be  a  supply  for  your 
want,  that  there  may  be  equality.  As  it  is 
written,  He  that  had  gathered  much  had 
nothing  over ;  arid  he  that  had  gathered  little 
had  no  lack"  (2  Cor.  8:  14).  This  is  plainly 
a  precise  and  true  definition  of  social  equality. 


PART  III. 

THE   GOSPEL    OF   FRATERNITY. 

IN  a  literal  sense  brothers  are  sous  of  one 
father,  and  their  association  in  one  family  con- 
stitutes a  brotherhood ;  and  as  all  men  are  chil- 
dren of  God,  all  in  like  sense  are  brethren  and 
members  of  one  family  (Job  33 :  4 ;  Acts  17 : 
25-29).  Sonship  in  God  is,  therefore,  Brother- 
hood in  Man,  and  there  can  be  no  other,  as 
there  can  be  only  one  God  and  Father  of  all 
(Isa.  64:  8;  Matt.  6:  9;  John  5:  26),— how- 
beit,  since  every  son  and  brother  may  become 
a  father  of  a  family,  there  may  be  an  unlimited 
number  of  brotherhoods  derived  from,  and 
comprehended  in,  the  one  Divine  Family.  But 
no  brotherhood  can  be  true  and  real  except  it 
be  such  both  in  letter  and  spirit  (Rom.  9  :  6-8) 
— in  the  image  of  the  heavenly  (1  Cor.  15  :  49 ; 
2  Cor.  3:  8) — all  its  members  bound  together 
in  unity  (John  11 :  52 ;  17  :  11 ;  Eph.  4 :  3, 13  ; 
Heb.  2:  11),  and  each  loving  his  brother  as 
himself.  That  is,  so  long  and  so  far  only  as 
men  recognize  God  as  their  Father,  are  obedi- 
151 


152        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

ent  unto  him  (Isa.  38:  18,  19 ;  63:  8;  1  Pet. 
1 :  14,  15),  and  maintain  right  social  relations 
with  each  other,  are  they  practically  sons  and 
brothers  (Matt.  5:  45;  13:  38;  John  1:  12, 
13;  Rom.  8  :  16 ;  Gal.  3:  26;  1  John  3:  10). 

As  all  men  had  sinned — that  is,  become  dis- 
obedient to  our  common  Father — (Eccl.  7  :  20 ; 
Rom.  3  :  23),  all,  to  the  degree  of  their  sinful- 
ness,  had  become  alienated  from  God  (Eph.  2 : 
12),  astray  as  sheep  from  his  fold  (Isa.  53 :  6), 
and  the  idea  of  Fatherhood  in  God  and  Broth- 
erhood in  Man  almost  oblitered  from  the  popu- 
lar conscience  until  the  coming  of  the  Christ, 
whereby  it  has  partially,  and  rnay  be  wholly, 
restored.  Hence,  as  pointed  out  in  the  parable 
of  the  Prodigal  Son,  our  social  redemption  is 
only  possibly  by  our  return  to  our  Father's 
house — by  the  restoration  to  our  conscience 
and  life  of  the  reality  of  our  Sonship  in  God. 
Such  is  the  "  Gospel  of  Fraternity  " — obedience 
to  God,  and  peace  and  good  will  toward  men. 
Such  was  and  is  the  mission  of  Jesus — the 
social  polity  of  his  gospel — to  seek  for  and 
bring  back  to  his  Father's  house  all  his  breth- 
ren that  had  gone  astray  therefrom  (John  10  : 
16).  Such  is  the  meaning  of  atonement — the 
reconciliation  of  men  to  God  and  to  each  other 
(Matt.  5  :  24 ;  Rom.  5  :  10  ;  2  Cor.  5  :  18,  19  ; 


THE   GOSPEL   OF   FRATERNITY.  153 

Col.  1 :  20,  21)  ;  and  to  this  purpose  both  the 
Old  and  New  Testament  Scriptures  are  wholly 
devoted — the  restoration  of  our  lost  Sonship  in 
God  and  Brotherhood  in  Man.  In  fact,  there 
can  be  no  true  religion  other  than  that  bond  of 
love  which  binds  all  men  to  God  and  to  each 
other;  for  otherwise  we  are  naturally  and  of 
necessity  selfish  and  unsocial,  and  our  salvation 
—which  is  our  social  well-being — is  impossible. 
If  then,  as  must  have  been  rightly  taught  in 
the  original  Church,  true  membership  therein 
secures  our  salvation  (Acts  2 :  47),  every  true 
church  must  represent  a  household  of  God,  and 
must  practically  illustrate  what  a  true  brother- 
hood is — not  simply  by  calling  God  our  Father 
(Matt.  25:  40,  45;  John  8:  41,  42),  but  by 
keeping  his  commandments.  Nor  by  simply 
calling  our  fellow-members  brethren  (Matt.  5  : 
46,  47),  for  there  is  an  endless  number  of 
brotherhoods,  so-called,  organized  mostly  for 
selfish  or  partisan  purposes,  but  by  striving  to 
love  them  as  ourselves,  and  doing  unto  them  as 
we  would  they  should  do  unto  us.  Men  can  of 
course  combine  together  for  any  purpose,  even 
for  robbery  and  murder,  or  to  make  war  by 
legal  methods  upon  the  rights  and  interests  of 
others,  and  call  such  combination  a  brotherhood, 
but  it  is  manifestly  true  that  only  so  far  as  they 


154  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

are  united  iii  obedience  to  God,  and  in  the 
spirit  of  mutual  love,  is  there  any  real  frater- 
nity. And  as  true  religion  is  the  bond  of  union 
between  God  and  Man,  and  men  and  men,  it  is 
also  manifest  that  there  can  be  no  true  religion 
except  in  the  practical  culture  of  fraternal  re- 
lations (Rom.  12  :  10  ;  1  Thess.  4  :  9). 

Now  the  Christ,  as  we  have  seen,  asserted 
the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brotherhood  of 
Man  as  principles  essential  to  our  social  redemp- 
tion ;  and  not  only  asserted  these  principles 
but  also  taught  how  they  may  be  practically 
applied  by  a  congregation  of  believers  called  a 
church,  a  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  wherein 
all  faithful  members  thereof  ma}^  become  free 
from  social  oppression,  equal  one  with  another, 
and  sons  and  brothers  in  God's  own  household 
(Rom.  8:  14-17). 

Like  religion  itself,  therefore,  fraternity 
means  unity — the  joining  together  of  many 
differing  personalities  in  one  harmonious  whole 
(1  Cor.  10  :  17  ;  Phil.  2 :  2)— in  the  fellowship 
of  the  Son  (1  Cor.  1 :  9),  and  with  the  Father 
(1  John  1:  3)— in  citizenship  (Eph.  2:  19) — in 
inheritance  (1  Cor.  3:  21,  22;  Heb.  9:  15)—  in 
mutual  helpfulness  and  labors  (Gal.  6:2;  Phil. 
4 :  3) — in  sufferings  (2  Tim.  1 :  8) — in  consola- 
tions (2  Cor.  1 :  6,  7) — in  hopes  and  promises 


THE   GOSPEL  OP  FRATERNITY.  155 

(1  Cor.  9:  10;  2  Pet.  1:  4)— in  glory  (1  Pet. 
5  :  1)— in  life  (Rom.  6 :  5). 

Whatever  exists  must  be  manifested  in  com- 
bination with  other  things — all  things  being  so- 
cial in  nature, — and  must  itself  be  composed  of 
differing  things  which  correspond  with  each 
other.  By  correspondences  we  mean  harmoni- 
ous variations  which  are  essential  to  extension, 
continuity,  and  comprehension — parts  in  one 
whole  which  are  complements  of  each  other, 
each  supplying  what  others  lack,  as  the  differ- 
ing faculties  essential  to  one  mind;  differing 
organs  of  one  body;  differing  tints  of  one 
color ;  differing  spheres  of  one  universe.  The 
proportion  of  differences  in  parts  determines 
the  character  of  the  whole,  and  if  the  propor- 
tion be  just,  the  correspondence  will  be  perfect, 
and  goodness,  truth,  and  beauty  will  result 
therefrom.  Otherwise  the  combination  will 
produce  chaos,  anarchy,  and  decay. 

Society  being  a  structure,  this  law  of  corre- 
spondence determines  its  well-being.  Although 
no  two  men  can  be  precisely  alike — else  there 
would  be  no  personal  identity,  one  not  being 
distinguishable  from  another,  and  the  varieties 
of  tastes,  cultures,  abilities,  and  callings  essen- 
tial to  the  vast  and  varied  interests  of  society 
being  lacking, — there  may  yet  be  harmony,  all 


156  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

working  for  the  common  interests,  each  filling 
his  natural  and  rightful  position  in  relation  to 
all  other  brethren,  classes,  or  conditions  (1  Cor. 
1 :  10).  Thus  there  are  differences  in  ages,  ex- 
periences, possessions,  abilities,  pursuits,  and 
duties,  yet  if  all  are  bound  together  in  the  full 
recognition  and  protection  of  each  other's 
rights  as  defined  in  the  moral  law,  and  fulfill 
the  same  in  love  as  defined  in  the  gospel,  such 
social  compact  is  the  perfection  of  society,  and 
would  know  no  suffering  or  injustice  (1  Cor. 
12:  25-31). 

While,  therefore,  it  is  quite  proper  and  laud- 
able that  men  of  one  calling  should  combine  to- 
gether in  unions  or  brotherhoods  for  mutual 
culture  and  protection  of  their  rights  and  in- 
terests, yet  if  they  seek  thereby  to  antagonize 
the  interests  of  other  callings — selfishly  to  pro- 
mote their  own  interests  to  the  detriment  of 
others — they  cease  to  be  brotherhoods,  and  be- 
come enemies  of  society.  Thus  if  farmers, 
merchants,  manufacturers,  mechanics,  capital- 
ists, laborers,  or  any  other  classes  combine  to 
obtain  exorbitant  prices,  wages,  profits,  or 
privileges,  they  are  irreligious,  unsocial,  and 
transgressors  of  the  laws  of  God  and  the  rights 
of  man.  Men  must  live  together  in  the  same 
world,  and  the  better  they  can  harmonize  in 


THE   GOSPEL  OF   FRATERNITY.  157 

their  social  interests  the  better  will  be  the  con- 
dition of  each  and  all.  All  are  made  in  one 
image,  are  of  one  flesh  and  blood,  of  like  facul- 
ties, desires  and  necessities.  The  life  of  each 
is  in  the  Life  of  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  as 
the  branches  of  the  vine  in  one  Vine  (John  15 : 
1-6;  Acts  17:  26);  and  for  one  brother  or 
brotherhood  to  war  against  the  best  interests  of 
another  is  to  render  the  one  a  thief  and 
murderer,  and  the  other  a  baud  of  thieves  and 
murderers  (Gen.  4  :  2,  8 ;  Prov.  29  :  24 ;  1 
John  3:  15). 

Fraternity  is  the  goal  of  humanity, — the  end 
of  the  law  for  righteousness  (Rom.  10:  4-9) — 
the  end  of  the  Christian  religion  for  our  justifi- 
cation and  reconciliation  with  God  and  Man, 
the  fulfillment  of  all  divinely  inspired  and  pro- 
phetic ideals  and  conceptions  of  a  power  and 
glory  to  come — of  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth, 
a  new  Jerusalem,  and  a  new  tabernacle  of  God 
with  man,  when  all  tears  shall  be  wiped  away. 
It  is  the  mark  set  before  us,  the  high  calling  of 
God  our  Father  in  his  Son  Christ  Jesus  our 
Brother  (Phil.  3 :  14).  It  is  the  perfection  of 
our  social  nature  and  art — the  law  fulfilled  in 
love.  And  the  gate  called  Beautiful  was  the 
symbol  of  the  practical  method  by  which  these 
divinely  inspired  social  ideas  might  be  realized 


158  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

by  the  exclusion  of  all  unclean  and  selfish  ele- 
ments of  society  (2  Chron.  23:  19;  1  Cor.  6: 
10),  and  the  inclusion  in  one  fold,  and  under 
one  Shepherd,  of  all  who  would  love  God  and 
their  brother  men.  For  necessarily  the  intro- 
duction into  a  sinful  world  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  requires  the  separation  of  the  unselfish 
from  the  selfish,  it  being  impossible  that  these 
two  elements  should  harmonize  with  each  other. 
There  must  be  a  gate  of  separation  so  long  as 
men  are  inharmonious  in  their  social  relations. 
The  wheat  must  be  winnowed  from  the  chaff 
(Mai.  4:  1;  Matt.  3:  12),  the  sheep  separated 
from  the  goats.  Truth  cannot  dwell  in  peace 
with  falsehood,  true  riches  with  needless  pov- 
erty, virtue  with  vice,  temperance  with  dis- 
sipation, thrift  with  prodigality,  or  brotherly 
kindness  with  pride  and  envy.  In  short  there 
can  be  no  brotherhood  except  to  the  degree  that 
all  men  are  free  and  equal — free  from  sin  and 
selfishness,  and  equal  in  rights  and  privileges 
through  obedience  to  the  moral  law,  and  the 
fulfillment  of  the  same  in  love. 

The  church  of  which  Peter  and  John  were 
members  represented  this  ideal  social  compact 
and  fraternity — the  gathering  together  in  one 
fold  of  all  who  were  disposed  to  dwell  together 
in  peace  and  brotherhood.  They  were  not, 


THE  GOSPEL  OF   FRATERNITY.  159 

however,  so  impractical  as  to  suppose  that 
brotherhood  could  exist  in  a  world  universally 
selfish ;  yet  believing  in  the  principles  of  the 
law  and  the  gospel,  and  inspired  by  the  example 
of  their  Master,  they  had  faith  in  its  ultimate 
realization  in  the  elimination  of  selfishness,  and 
in  the  redemption  of  the  whole  human  race 
from  social  thralldom.  How  could  they  indeed 
believe  the  law  and  gospel  to  be  true  if  the 
universal  brotherhood  were  impossible  of  real- 
ization as  represented  therein  ? — in  the  prophets 
who  dreamed  dreams  of  a  glory  to  come,  when 
men  should  beat  their  swords  into  plowshares, 
and  their  spears  into  pruning  hooks,  when 
nation  should  not  rise  up  against  nation  any 
more,  every  man  sit  under  his  own  vine  and 
fig  tree,  and  none  should  make  them  afraid? — 
under  a  God  and  Father  of  all,  in  a  Kingdom 
of  God,  or  in  God  with  Man  ?  No  doubt  selfish- 
ness is  universal  in  depraved  human  nature,  yet 
the  nature  thus  perverted  is  nature  still, — the 
natural  and  just  sequence  of  a  rational  cause, 
— and  is  of  God.  The  perversion  of  nature  is 
not  the  destruction  of  nature,  it  being  eternal 
in  God's  Nature,  and  in  us  as  children  of  God, 
and  despite  its  depravity  in  us  it  is  not  totally 
depraved. 

In  fact,  strictly  speaking,  it  is  not  depraved 


160  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

at  all,  the  depravity  being  in  our  perversion  of 
it  to  evil  uses ;  and  though  it  produces  disease, 
suffering,  and  death  by  such  perversion,  these 
are  the  rational  and  just  conditions  resulting 
from  our  transgressions  of  its  laws — quite  as 
rational  and  just  as  the  conditions  of  health, 
joy,  and  life  it  develops  when  we  are  obedient 
thereto.  Disease  and  death  mark  the  limits  of 
perversion  and  transgression,  and  are  produced 
by  nature  in  the  mercy  of  God  that  it  may  not 
produce  unending  torments. 

Hence,  although  men  are  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree  selfish,  none  who  still  live  can  be  totally 
selfish,  and  all  may,  if  they  will,  be  redeemed 
and  saved.  As  already  shown,  our  nature  and 
art,  if  brought  into  harmony  with  the  Divine, 
produce  unity,  and  in  the  perfection  of  society 
are  represented  in  a  perfect  brotherhood.  But 
as  all  men  in  the  exercise  of  their  free  will  can- 
not at  once  be  brought  into  harmonious  rela- 
tions either  by  the  compulsion  of  the  law  or  the 
persuasion  of  the  gospel,  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion must  be  begun  by  the  separation  of  the 
obedient  from  the  disobedient.  That  is,  while 
the  Kingdom  of  God  may  be  established  here, 
when  there  are  any  who  are  willing  to  accept 
it,  it  cannot  include  all  so  long  as  any  reject  it, 
and  there  must  be  barriers  erected  between  the 


THE  GOSPEL  OF   FRATERNITY.  161 

just  and  unjust,  as  there  are  between  heaven, 
and  hell.  Admission  thereto  must  be  condi- 
tional— effected  through  a  gate;  for  otherwise 
there  could  be  no  protection  of  social  rights. 

The  social  ideal  Peter  and  John  represented 
was  no  longer  simply  a  speculative  theory,  but 
one  already  partially  realized  in  a  congregation 
of  believers  who  were  of  one  heart  and  one 
soul,  and  called  none  of  the  things  they  pos- 
sessed exclusively  their  own,  but  held  them  in 
common  for  the  good  of  all.  Indeed  there  can 
be  no  greater  delusion  than  the  idea  that  any 
true  theory  of  reform  is  not  practicable  because 
the  multitude  are  not  ready  to  receive  it ;  for 
this  is  to  assume  that  righteousness  is  impossi- 
ble, and  that  truth  is  dependent  for  its  exist- 
ence upon  the  popular  will  rather  than  upon 
the  will  of  God.  If  men  are  not  totally  de- 
praved, and  if  any  there  be  who  are  desirous  of 
improvement,  every  true  social  ideal  is  prac- 
ticable, and  its  realization  in  outward  life  may 
be  approximated  by  educational  methods — by 
prophecy  and  instruction — whereby  civil  laws, 
however  unjust,  may  be  brought  more  and  more 
into  conformity  with  moral  laws,  and  religion, 
however  corrupt,  into  harmony  with  the  gospel 
of  love  and  reconciliation.  Faith,  hope,  and 
love  are  innate  in  the  social  nature  of  Man, 


162  TUB  GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

and  cannot  be  utterly  eliminated  except  he  be 
himself  blotted  from  existence.  Hence,  if  evil 
motives  be  repressed  and  good  motives  devel- 
oped and  cultured,  every  man  living  will  be 
found  to  be  susceptible  of  improvement — re- 
ceptive of  higher  inspirations  and  aspirations — 
so  that  while  all  men  are  sinful  and  selfish,  it 
is  always  possible  to  introduce  into  the  world 
the  discipline  of  repentance — first  by  prophecy, 
and  second  by  practical  illustration  in  works 
meet  for  repentance.  And  if  any  person  thinks 
this  Gospel  of  Fraternity  to  be  merely  fanciful 
and  impracticable,  he  is  so  selfish,  so  blinded 
by  self-interest,  that  he  cannot  believe  in  the 
truth  because  it  is  the  truth  (John  8 :  45) — be- 
ing as  he  thinketh  in  his  heart  (Prov.  23 :  7) ; 
arid  if  he  be  professedly  a  Christian,  he  is  prac- 
tically if  not  consciously  a  hypocrite  (Matt. 
16 :  3) — able  to  discern  fair  or  foul  weather, 
but  not  the  signs  of  the  times — natural,  but  not 
spiritual  laws — what  concerns  his  immediate, 
personal,  and  selfish  interests,  but  not  his  fu- 
ture, social,  and  eternal  welfare. 

Peter  and  John  were  brethren — were  of  the 
church  and  were  the  church ;  and  as  such  were 
free  and  equal — justly  entitled  to  the  privilege 
of  entrance  at  the  Gate  to  the  Temple  of  God. 
But  so  corrupted  was  the  society  of  their  day, 


THE  GOSPEL   OF   FRATERNITY.  163 

and  the  true  religion  of  the  temple,  that  even 
thieves  and  robbers  were  also  permitted  to 
enter — howbeit  these  thieves  and  robbers  were 
obedient  to  the  letter  of  the  law.  Very  likely 
Peter  and  John  were  the  only  brothers  in  spirit 
and  in  truth,  who  came  up  to  the  temple  at  this 
hour  of  prayer;  but  their  presence  there  served 
to  prevent  the  worship  of  the  temple  from  be- 
coming totally  depraved,  as  had  the  presence 
of  the  true  prophets  in  preceding  ages.  And 
being  brothers,  they  were,  like  the  Founder  of 
their  order,  also  missionaries,  and  sought  to 
make  all  other  men  brothers,  and  to  confer 
upon  them  the  same  rights  and  privileges  they 
themselves  enjoyed.  This,  however,  could  be 
done  only  by  closing  the  gate  against  thieves 
and  robbers,  and  opening  it  to  others  whom 
thieves  and  robbers  had  excluded,  both  Jews 
and  Gentiles — which,  considering  they  were 
only  two  men  of  little  social  influence,  would 
seem  a  hopeless  task.  But  being  "  wise  as 
serpents  and  harmless  as  doves,"  and  conscious 
that  their  Master  was  with  them  (Matt.  28  :  20; 
Rom.  8 :  31),  and  that  all  things  were  possible 
to  those  who  believed  and  trusted  in  him 
(Mark  9:  23),  they  did  not  hesitate  then  and 
there  to  attempt  to  apply  practically  their  faith. 
All  they  could  do,  however,  at  the  time,  so  far 


164        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

as  regarded  the  thieves  and  robbers,  was  to 
enter  with  them  into  the  temple  in  order  to 
vindicate  their  own  right  to  the  enjoyment  of 
its  privileges,  and  to  preserve,  so  far  as  their 
presence  and  influence  could,  the  principles  and 
purity  of  worship  represented  therein — hoping 
and  believing  that  in  time  it  might  be  converted 
from  a  den  of  thieves  into  a  house  of  prayer. 
And  to  this  end  they  sought  to  bring  in  with 
them  those  who,  through  physical  or  other  in- 
firmities, had  been  excluded  or  rendered  in- 
capable of  entrance,  and  also  by  their  example, 
brotherly  kindness,  preachings  and  exhorta- 
tions to  bring  to  repentance  even  the  thieves 
and  robbers,  so  that  those  who  stole  should 
steal  no  more,  but  rather  working  with  their 
hands  the  things  which  were  good,  that  they 
might  have  to  give  to  them  that  needed  (Eph. 
4:  28).  And  no  doubt,  so  far  as  the  Church 
of  our  day  has  become  corrupted  and  perverted 
to  selfish,  worldly,  and  vain  purposes,  a  like 
method  should  be  pursued.  And  that  it  has 
become  thus  perverted  is  evident,  since  it  does 
not  represent  a  brotherhood  of  social  liberty, 
equality,  and  fraternity,  and  if  not  a  brother- 
hood, is  a  den  of  thieves  in  the  same  sense  that 
the  temple  was — that  is,  not  necessarily  in  the 
letter,  but  in  the  spirit.  Any  society  must  be 


THE  GOSPEL  OF   FRATERNITY.  165 

either  one  or  the  other — a  brotherhood  or  a  den 
of  thieves ;  for  it  is  plain  that  we  cannot  be 
brethren  and  at  the  same  time  selfish  and  un- 
willing to  hold  our  possessions  in  common,  so 
that  those  associated  with  us  may  participate  in 
our  privileges.  Like  the  Temple — which  was 
composed  of  Pharisees  and  Sadducees — the 
Church  is  divided  into  sects,  hostile  to  each 
other,  and  each  striving  to  win  proselytes  for 
the  purpose  of  promoting  its  worldly  and  tem- 
poral interests — business  or  political  (Matt.  23 : 
15).  Like  the  temple  also  it  is  full  of  parasites 
— moths,  rust,  and  thieves — those  who  subsist 
by  catering  to  the  vanities,  superstitions,  worldly 
pride,  ignorance,  dogmatic  eccentricities  and 
fancies,  bigotries,  and  prejudices  of  its  mem- 
bers. Each  is  more  or  less  narrow,  exclusive 
and  intolerant  of  many  who  should  be  admitted, 
and  inclusive  of  many  who  should  be  excluded 
—its  conditions  of  admission  being  fixed  by 
idosyncrasies  of  private  opinions  called  articles 
of  faith,  rather  than  by  the  spirit  of  the  gospel 
of  the  Christ,  of  godliness,  brotherly  kindness, 
and  charity.  Nevertheless,  as  the  true  Church 
is  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  represents  the  one 
and  only  social  compact  and  polity  whereby  the 
Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brotherhood  of 
Man  can  be  realized,  we  should,  like  Peter  and 


166        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

John,  enter  in  at  its  Beautiful  Gate,  and  strive 
to  fulfill  the  purpose  of  God  therein.  Corrupt 
as  it  now  is,  it  is  by  no  means  utterly  corrupt, 
but  represents  our  highest  religious  and  social 
culture,  and  our  only  hope  of  redemption  from 
social  thralldom,  injustice,  sin,  and  selfishness. 


BOOK  THIRD. 
SOCIAL  PROBLEMS. 


"  Who  seeing  Peter  and  John  about  to  go  into  the  Temple 
asked  an  alma." — Acts  3 :  3. 


PROLOGUE. 

HUMAN   PARASITES. 

A  HUMAN  parasite  is  a  person  who  derives 
his  living  wholly  or  in  part  from  another's  sub- 
stance— literally,  eats  beside  him,,  and  at  his 
cost.  As  all  beings  are  necessarily  social — liv- 
ing together  in  one  world  and  deriving  their 
subsistence  from  one  God  (Ps.  136 :  25,  26 ;  Luke 
20 :  38) — all  are  parasites  at  the  Lord's  table. 
Whether,  therefore,  our  social  condition  be 
good  or  evil  is  determined  by  its  parasitic  char- 
acter— that  is,  by  how  we  live  and  eat  together, 
whether  harmoniously  in  proper  recognition  of 
each  other's  natural  rights  and  necessities  as 
children  of  one  household,  or  otherwise  regard- 
less thereof. 

But  as  this  is  confessedly  a  selfish  and  sinful 
world — by  which  we  mean  that  while  naturally 
social  and  mutually  dependent  we  have  become 
by  transgression  of  God's  laws  unnaturally  un- 
social, not  living  and  eating  together  harmo- 
niously, but  exclusive  in  spirit,  each  string  to 
the  degree  of  his  selfishness  to  exclude  others 
169 


170  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

from  equal  participation  with  himself  in  the 
privileges  of  the  table  our  common  Father  has 
prepared  for  us  all,  or  to  shirk  and  shift  the 
social  responsibilities  and  duties  in  which  each 
should  share  equally  according  to  his  abilities — 
the  idea  of  parasite  has  come  to  be  perverted 
in  meaning,  and  used  only  in  an  evil  sense  to 
describe  a  being  which,  either  from  necessity, 
inability  or  indisposition,  is  unable  or  unwilling 
to  labor  for  its  own  support,  and  subsists 
wholly  or  in  part  upon  the  labors  and  produc- 
tions of  others.  And  in  this  limited  sense  only 
shall  we  use  the  word. 

As  our  interests  are  wholly  social,  all  prob- 
lems which  concern  our  progress  and  reform 
are  social  problems ;  and  as  our  social  conditions 
must  be  determined  by  their  parasitic  develop- 
ments, such  problems  necessarily  involve  in- 
quiries into  such  developments  as  are  evil  in 
order  that  proper  methods  for  their  suppression 
may  be  devised  and  practically  applied. 

As  accurately  defined  and  classified  by  the 
Christ,  evil  parasites  are  of  three  varieties,  the 
moth,  rust,  and  thief  (Matt.  6:  19) — that  is, 
the  consuming,  dissipating,  and  plundering  ele- 
ments of  society.  These  include  all  destructive 
elements,  and  were  these  removed,  all  social 
evils  would  cease  to  exist.  Hence  social  prob- 


HUMAN     PARASITES.  171 

lems  are  of  three  varieties  :  The  Problem  of 
the  Moth,  The  Problem  of  the  Rust,  and  The 
Problem  of  the  Thief.  These,  however,  are 
closely  related  to  each  other,  being  of  one  kind, 
and  having  a  common  source  in  sin  and  selfish- 
ness. 

As  man  is  superior  to  all  other  earthly  crea- 
tures in  his  personal  endowments  of  physical, 
mental,  and  spiritual  faculties,  he  is  justly  made 
ruler  over  all  (Gen.  1 :  28,  29).  And  being 
ruler  he  is  also  responsible  for  their  condition. 
We  may  assume  in  fact  that,  as  he  is  of  more 
value  than  the  creatures  which  are  subject  to 
him  (Matt.  10 :  31),  they  were  made  for  his  use 
— not,  however,  to  their  injury  and  destruction, 
but  for  their  well-being  and  preservation,  even 
as  his  body  is  made  for  the  use  of  his  spirit,  so 
that  as  he  should  be,  so  also  may  all  things  in 
his  world  become  ;  for  doubtless,  by  a  just  law 
of  Being,  the  better  our  condition,  the  better 
will  all  things  be  which  God  has  given  us.  In- 
deed it  is  quite  certain  that,  as  God's  laws  are 
invariably  rational  and  just,  everything  in  our 
environments  is  made  to  correspond  with  our 
physical,  mental,  and  moral  conditions.  That 
is,  as  man  is  both  an  animal  and  a  spirit,  and  as 
the  spirit  is  superior  to  the  animal,  the  condition 
of  the  one  is  determined  by  that  of  the  other. 


172        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

Hence  we  may  assume  that  evil  parasites  in 
the  natural  world  originate  in,  and  are  devel- 
oped by,  man's  perverted  conscience  and  will. 
In  other  words  man's  vitiated  art,  whereby  his 
substance  and  nature  have  also  become  viti- 
ated, has  not  only  produced  the  destructive  ele- 
ments of  society,  but  also  all  animal  and  veg- 
etable pests  which  consume,  waste,  and  plunder 
the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  all  fabrics  which 
man's  skill  and  industry  have  developed.  That 
is,  the  earth  is  cursed  for  his  sake  (Gen.  3 :  17, 
18)  and  made  to  produce  useless,  poisonous, 
and  destructive  plants  and  animals.  Any  un- 
restrained evil  thought,  impulse  or  desire  may, 
and  naturally  will,  develop  a  correspondingly 
unhealthy  condition  of  body;  and  as  the  body 
is  wholly  composed  of  substantives,  such  un- 
healthy condition  will  affect  other  material 
things  with  which  it  is  in  contact,  and  produce 
therein  a  like  unhealthy  condition.  In  this 
way  man's  environments  in  what  we  call  the 
natural  world  are  made  to  correspond  with  his 
spiritual  state — the  same  causes  that  produce 
human  parasites  producing  also  the  moth,  rust, 
and  thief  among  animals  and  plants. 

Now  it  has  been  regarded  as  an  inexplicable 
mystery  how  evils  come  into  the  world  ;  but 
the  truth  is,  evils  did  not  come  into  the  world, 


HUMAN    PARASITES.  173 

but  are  wholly  of  the  world,  having  been  de- 
veloped here  by  man's  perversion  of  the  good 
gifts  of  God  through  selfishness  and  sin.  It 
may  be  said,  however,  that  evils  existed  here 
before  the  coming  of  man,  and  that,  therefore, 
man  is  not  responsible  for  them.  And  we  ad- 
mit that  while  the  earth  was  being  prepared  for 
the  abode  of  human  beings,  it  was  necessarily 
imperfect,  yet  that,  as  in  the  building  of  any 
good  house  for  human  habitation,  each  stage  of 
progressive  development  in  the  creation  of  the 
earth  was  a  good  work,  it  being  precisely  fitted 
for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  designed — that 
is,  for  the  development  therefrom  of  a  stage  of 
still  higher  advancement  (Gen.  1 :  12,  18,  21, 
25),  just  as  every  lower  step  in  a  stairway  is 
essential  to  enable  us  to  reach  a  higher.  While 
every  state  of  imperfection,  to  the  degree  of  its 
imperfection,  is  an  evil  state  as  contrasted  with 
a  perfect — being  subject  to  discipline  and  bond- 
age, as  is  the  human  race  under  the  moral  law 
(Gal.  4  :  25) — it  is  yet  rightly  regarded  as 
good,  and  as  a  medium  of  ascension  to  a  higher 
state  (Gal.  3 :  19).  Granting,  therefore,  that 
before  man  appeared  plants  and  animals  in 
their  struggles  for  existence  warred  against 
each  other,  and  that  th«  fittest  survived,  we  do 
not  admit  that  this  was  an  evil  condition,  the 


174       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

Divine  purpose  therein  being  then,  as  it  is  now, 
to  develop  from  an  inferior  a  superior  condition 
of  social  life.  Nor  is  man,  being  himself  im- 
perfect, necessarily  responsible  for  the  evil  par- 
asites that  now  exist,  either  in  his  own  social 
life  or  in  that  of  the  lower  orders  created  for 
his  use,  any  more  than  is  a  child  for  its  neces- 
sary weakness  and  ignorance  resulting  from  its 
immaturity  in  strength  and  knowledge ;  for 
whether  he  was  originally  created  a  perfect 
man  and  became  a  sinner  by  transgression,  or 
is  only  an  improved  order  of  animal,  God's  pur- 
pose in  him  is  to  develop  a  perfect  being  of 
limitless  life  and  happiness.  But  if  he  be  un- 
necessarily imperfect — like  a  prodigal  son,  un- 
grateful for  his  gifts  and  opportunities,  and 
spending  his  substance  in  riotous  living — he  is 
responsible  for  all  evils  that  exist  in  his  social 
life,  which  have  resulted  from  his  willful  diso- 
bedience and  profligacy.  And  it  being  unques- 
tionably true  that  we  are  imperfect,  and  un- 
necessarily so — not  only  not  living  up  to  our 
abilities  and  opportunities,  but  also  perverting 
our  gifts  and  wasting  our  substance  in  riotous 
living — the  natural  law  of  the  survival  of  the 
fittest  must  continue  to  operate,  else  the  social 
moth,  rust,  and  thief  would  survive  the  more 
industrious,  thrifty,  and  honest  classes.  That 


HUMAN     PARASITES.  175 

is,  except  we  make  proper  efforts  to  overcome 
evil  with  good,  social  degeneration  must  neces- 
sarily ensue  with  all  its  incidents  of  social  in- 
justice and  suffering. 

We  should  also  bear  in  the  mind  that  para- 
sites are  not  themselves  the  original  sources  of 
evils,  but  only  the  products  thereof,  as  the  dis- 
eases of  the  body  are  of  the  perversions  of 
natural  laws  upon  which  health  depends.  On 
the  contrary,  they  are  always  of  use  as  a  mat- 
ter of  discipline,  and,  like  the  microbes  which 
are  present  in  diseased  conditions,  are  scaven- 
gers for  the  removal  of  useless,  offensive,  and 
decayed  substances,  howbeit  they  naturally 
propagate  themselves,  and  thus  serve  to  per- 
petuate and  increase  the  evils  of  which  they 
have  themselves  been  evolved.  Thus  the  mi- 
crobes which  are  found  present  in  any  diseased 
condition,  like  all  evil  examples  of  sin  and  self- 
ishness, render  such  diseased  condition  conta- 
gious or  infectious  by  migrating  into  other 
bodies  contiguous  thereto  or  within  the  sphere 
of  their  influence,  and  developing  therein  a  like 
diseased  condition.  Thus  the  carpet-moth,  for 
example,  evolved  no  doubt  spontaneously  of 
the  dust  and  filth,  which  are  the  natural  accre- 
tions of  the  carpet,  may  pass  into  other  similar 
fabrics,  and  consume  them.  All  useless  things, 


176  TUB   GATE   CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

as  also  all  useful  things  put  to  unnatural  uses, 
naturally  begin  to  rust  and  decay,  and  produce 
the  inoths  which  consume  our  treasures — just 
as  wealth  hoarded,  or  used  simply  for  vain  pur- 
poses, produces  thieves  and  robbers,  who  like  all 
other  microbes  are  useful  as  a  discipline  and 
restraint  of  human  cupidity  and  extravagance. 
The  law  of  heredity,  whereby  the  sins  of 
parents  are  visited  upon  their  children  to  the 
third  and  fourth  generations,  is  a  similar  illus- 
tration how  parasites  are  propagated,  and  is 
no  doubt  useful,  just,  and  merciful,  howbeit  that 
children  suffer  unjustly  for  the  transgressions 
of  their  parents, — it  being  designed  to  restrain 
both  parents  and  children  from  transgression, 
to  give  opportunity  for  repentance  and  reform 
(Luke  13 :  6-9),  and  prevent  the  extermination 
of  the  race.  For  otherwise — if  the  transgres- 
sions of  parents  were  immediately  followed  by 
their  extermination — there  would  be  no  chil- 
dren. Being  social  beings  mutually  dependent, 
we  are  justly  and  for  our  own  best  interests  re- 
quired to  bear  each  other's  burdens  as  also  our 
own  (Gal.  6  :  2,  5) — children  those  of  their  par- 
ents, the  strong  of  the  weak,  the  rich  of  the  poor, 
the  obedient  of  the  disobedient,  the  wise  of  the 
foolish,  the  thrifty  and  konest  of  the  profligate 
and  dishonest — that  by  iuch  discipline  we  may 


HUMAN     PARASITES.  177 

be  impelled  to  make  proper  efforts  and  sacri- 
fices for  the  reformation  and  improvement  of 
society. 

If,  however,  a  moth,  rust,  or  thief  is  past  re- 
demption— if  such  be  possible — and  cannot  be 
made  useful  when  capable  of  self-support,  he 
should  no  doubt  be  exterminated.  "  The 
wages  of  sin  is  death  " — that  is,  sin  is  the  be- 
ginning of  death,  and  if  persistent,  not  repented 
of,  must  terminate  in  death  complete.  This  is 
in  fact  the  true  and  practical  interpretation  of 
the  law  of  God  which  we  call  the  survival  of 
the  fittest.  But  as  it  is  impossible  for  us  to 
determine  whether  any  transgressor  be  past 
the  possibility  of  redemption  or  not,  we  must 
strive  for  the  salvation  of  all.  "  Vengeance  is 
mine,  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord," — although 
to  this  end  we  are  not  only  permitted  but  re- 
quired to  enforce  the  natural  and  moral  laws 
of  God,  while  at  the  same  time  we  strive 
through  the  charities  of  the  gospel  to  bring  all 
men  to  repentance.  Nature  itself,  which  is  of 
God  and  is  God,  will  ultimately  exterminate 
any  creature  that  persistently  perverts  its  gifts 
to  unnatural  uses.  That  is,  the  law  of  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest  does  not  exclude  the  unfit 
from  all  participation  in  God's  mercy ;  for 
while  the  wages  of  sin  is  death,  death  does  not 


178  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

follow  instantly  upon  transgression  (Rom.  5 : 
20),  and  where  sin  abounds  grace  doth  much 
more  abound,  so  that  those  who  are  unfit  may 
become  fit  to  live. 

Doubtless  the  principles  whereby  all  social 
problems  may  be  rightly  solved  have  been  fully 
and  clearly  enunciated  in  the  law  and  the 
gospel,  and  all  that  is  essential  to  the  right 
solution  thereof  is  practically  to  apply  such 
principles.  Yet  it  seems  exceedingly  difficult 
in  the  present  chaotic  and  complicated  condi- 
tions of  our  social  life  to  define  in  detail  the 
true  methods  of  such  application — precisely 
what  legislation  and  charities  are  required  for 
the  prevention  and  removal  of  the  Moth,  Rust, 
and  Thief — so  blinded  are  we  by  our  selfish- 
ness to  our  own  best  interests.  Like  the  Phar- 
isees, we  do  not  believe  the  truth  because  it  is 
the  truth  (John  8:  45) — unwilling  to  accept 
and  apply  a  practical  remedy  which  requires 
the  sacrifice  of  our  own  selfish  and  temporal 
interests  for  the  promotion  of  our  unselfish  and 
eternal  interests.  While  we  strain  at  gnats  we 
swallow  camels,  striving  by  slight  and  ineffi- 
cient efforts  to  satisfy  the  requirements  of 
social  obligations,  and  neglecting  the  weightier 
matters  of  justice,  mercy,  and  faith — highly  re- 
spectable, it  may  be,  according  to  superficial 


HUMAN     PARASITES.  179 

and  popular  standards  of  religion,  and  yet  pro- 
foundly selfish,  worldly,  and  insensible  to  social 
wrongs  and  oppressions  whereby  we  think  we 
are  made  rich  and  free  while  others  are  impov- 
erished and  enslaved.  Not  till  we  cast  out  the 
beams  from  our  own  eyes  can  we  see  clearly  to 
cast  out  the  motes  from  our  brother's  eyes — 
realizing  that  we  are  ourselves  moths,  rusts, 
and  thieves  so  long  as  we  are  willing  to  sub- 
sist upon  the  fruits  of  other  men's  labors,  and 
unwilling  to  share  with  them  equally — that  is, 
justly — our  own  privileges  and  possessions. 


PART  I. 

THE  PROBLEM  OF   THE  MOTH. 

WHEN  Peter  and  John  were  about  to  enter 
at  the  gate  called  Beautiful,  they  were  con- 
fronted with  a  great  social  problem.  A  crip- 
pled and  helpless  human  being  was  lying  there, 
who  asked  of  them  an  alms.  He  could  do 
little  or  nothing  in  the  way  of  productive  in- 
dustry, and  was  therefore  dependent  upon 
others  for  a  livelihood — for  food,  dress,  shelter 
and  all  other  common  necessities  and  comforts 
of  life  developed  by  human  art  of  our  natural 
resources ;  and  to  the  degree  that  these  were 
supplied  to  him  was  society  impoverished,  its 
treasures  dissipated  and  its  freedom  and  enjoy- 
ment limited.  Except  as  a  discipline  he  never 
had  been,  and  did  not  seem  likely  ever  to  be- 
come, of  any  use  to  society,  having  been  lame 
from  his  mother's  womb,  but  on  the  contrary 
was  a  tax,  a  burden,  a  curse,  a  pest,  living  only 
b}^  consuming  the  wealth  of  others.  He  was 
therefore  a  moth,  feeding  at  society's  table, 
reaping  where  he  had  not  strewn.  He  was 
180 


THE  PROBLEM  OP  THE  MOTH.        181 

also  an  unbidden  and  unwelcome  guest,  and 
his  presence  tolerated  only  through  the  natural 
humanity  of  men,  whereby  their  natural  sym- 
pathies were  awakened  in  contemplation  of  his 
helpless  and  suffering  condition. 

This  problem,  however,  was  not  new  or 
strange.  It  was  the  old  problem  of  poverty 
and  consequent  beggary,  no  doubt  originally 
evolved  of  man's  sinful  and  corrupted  .social 
conditions,  one  which  from  remotest  times  has 
constantly  demanded  solution — the  more  im- 
peratively as  the  natural  intelligence  and  com- 
passion of  society  have  been  developed  by  re- 
ligious culture.  It  is  realized  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  burdens  poverty  imposes  upon 
society,  and  the  limitations  it  places  upon  the 
increase  and  enjoyment  of  its  natural  and 
acquired  riches,  and  consists  in  the  inquiry, 
how  may  such  burdens  and  limitation  be  re- 
moved? But  while  society  is  in  a  measure 
conscious  of  the  existence  of  this  problem,  and 
of  the  importance  and  necessity  of  its  solution, 
its  ideas  have  been  and  still  are  indefinite  and 
confused,  both  as  regards  the  social  conditions 
of  which  poverty  is  the  natural  outcome,  and 
the  practical  methods  by  which  it  may  be  elim- 
inated. 

Barbarians  have  a  very  simple  and  tempora- 


182  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

rily  effective  method  of  dealing  with  this  prob- 
lem— that  is,  by  either  putting  to  death  those 
who  are  not  able  to  take  care  of  themselves,  or 
suffering  them  to  die  by  starvation  and  expos- 
ure. Nor  is  this  so  inhuman  as  it  may  at  first 
appear,  for  it  is  no  doubt  better  for  themselves 
that  such  unfortunates  should  perish  at  once 
than  that  their  lives  should  be  prolonged  in  a 
hopeless  condition  of  suffering. 

Among  more  cultured  and  Christian  people 
the  usual  method  is  by  almsgiving,  and  by 
building  hospitals,  asylums,  or  other  infirmaries, 
which  is — of  course  a  good  method  so  far  as  it 
goes,  but  is  simply  a  temporary  expedient,  serv- 
ing only  to  prolong  human  suffering  and  increase 
the  burdens  of  society,  unless  such  charities 
are  accompanied  with  proper  efforts  for  the 
prevention  and  cure  of  infirmities. 

Now  this  beggar  whom  Peter  and  John  en- 
countered was  one  of  a  vast  variety  of  moths, 
deformed,  idiotic  or  otherwise  insane — produced, 
not  by  his  own  sins,  for  he  was  personally,  so 
far  as  appears,  entirely  innocent  of  all  willful 
transgressions,  but  evolved  of  vicious  and  per- 
verted social  conditions.  Deprived  thereby  of 
the  natural  rights  of  man,  of  his  natural  inher- 
itance of  liberty  and  equality,  and  yet  possessed 
of  the  natural  instinct  of  self-preservation,  he 


THE  PROBLEM  OP  THE  MOTH.        183 

was  necessarily  a  moth.  The  sins  of  his  par- 
ents had  been  visited  upon  him, — as  doubtless 
theirs  had  been  upon  them, — for  it  is  impossible 
that  he  should  have  been  born  lame  except  by 
the  transgression  of  some  natural  law.  His 
ancestry  may  have  been  so  brutalized  by  en- 
forced ignorance,  poverty,  and  excessive  toil,  or 
by  hurtful  luxuries,  criminalities,  or  dissipa- 
tions, as  to  have  become  incapable  of  produc- 
ing healthy  offspring.  Moths  will  of  course 
produce  moths,  and  as  all  men  are  more  or  less 
sinful  and  selfish,  either  -by  choice  or  compul- 
sion, there  are  probably  no  perfectly  healthy 
offspring  born  into  the  world,  and  all  are  in  a 
corresponding  degree  by  birth  moths,  rusts,  and 
thieves.  Nevertheless,  if  we  repent — thereby 
manifesting  the  works  of  God  in  us  (John  9  : 
1-3) — we  may  be  accounted  righteous  (2  Thess. 
1:  5),  and  need  not  perish  (Luke  13:  5).  No 
person  born  a  moth  need  live  and  die  a  moth  ; 
for  as  certainly  as  our  infirmities  are  produced 
by  transgressions  of  natural,  moral,  and  spirit- 
ual laws,  so  are  they  healed  by  obedience  thereto. 
The  same  law  of  heredity,  whereby  social  evils 
are  evolved  of  false  habits  of  life,  will,  if  such 
habits  are  corrected,  produce  a  heritage  of 
good.  It  is  folly,  therefore,  for  us  to  attempt 
to  excuse  our  transgressions  by  saying,  "  Our 


184        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes,  and  their  chil- 
dren's teeth  are  set  on  edge  "  (Ezek.  18  :  2-32). 
Shall  we  continue  to  sin,  to  oppress  the  poor, 
to  transmit  our  infirmities  and  the  curses  result- 
ing therefrom  to  our  posterity,  because  our  heri- 
tage has  been  evil  ?  God  is  just,  and  judges  us 
by  our  own  works,  as  he  also  judged  our  fathers  ; 
and  although  we  suffer  and  are  disciplined  for 
the  sins  of  our  fathers,  we  are  condemned  only 
for  our  own ;  and  however  sorely  tempted  and 
oppressed,  we  are  not  tempted  or  oppressed  be- 
yond what  we  are  able  to  bear,  if  we  repent  us 
of  our  sins  and  strive  to  live  in  obedience  to 
the  laws  of  God  (1  Cor.  10 :  18). 

It  is  therefore  our  imperative  duty  and  our 
highest  privilege  to  strive  to  prevent  and  cure 
the  social  evils  with  which  we  are  afflicted,  and 
for  which  we  are  responsible.  Indeed,  unless 
we  do  make  this  effort  our  redemption  is  im- 
possible, and  we  shall  be  justly  condemned,  not 
only  for  our  own  transgressions,  but  also  for 
the  sins  of  our  parents. 

To  this  variety  of  moths  belongs  also  that 
which  is  produced,  not  directly  by  birth,  as  this 
beggar  was,  but  by  the  social  circumstances 
and  conditions  into  which  it  is  born,  which 
tempt  and  even  compel  men  to  lead  unnatural 
lives — born  into  poverty  and  ceaseless  toil, 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  MOTH.        185 

brought  up  in  ignorance  and  brutality,  and 
with  little  or  no  opportunities  for  the  culture 
and  improvement  of  their  natural  rights  and 
endowments.  Or  they  may  have  been — and 
such  examples  are  not  infrequent — born  in 
affluence  and  afterward  reduced  to  poverty,  in 
which  case,  not  having  been  trained  in  habits 
of  industry,  they  are  incapable  of  earning  a 
livelihood,  and  become  most  pitiable  objects  of 
charity.  Such  persons  may  have  led  honest 
lives,  but  through  stress  of  excessive  toil  or 
misfortune  have  become  so  physically,  mentally, 
or  spiritually  debilitated  that  they  are  incapa- 
ble of  self-support,  and  compelled  to  become 
beggars  and  tramps.  Surely  there  must  be 
something  radically  wrong  in  our  social  polity 
that  compels  human  beings  to  be  born  beggars, 
or  permits  any  who  are  unwilling  to  steal  and 
are  able  and  willing  to  work  to  become  a 
public  charge.  Nor  is  it  difficult  to  discover 
and  right  such  wrong,  if  we  do  not  permit  our- 
selves to  be  blinded  by  selfishness,  or  so  cor- 
rupted thereby  that  we  have  become  indifferent 
thereto,  and  unwilling  to  make  any  proper 
efforts  and  sacrifices  to  right  it. 

Another  variety  is  that  which  is  produced 
neither  by  its  own  inherited  disabilities  nor  by 
such  vitiated  conditions  of  birth  as  compel  it  to 


186        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

lead  an  unnatural  life,  but  by  the  necessities  of 
society  incurred  by  the  disabilities  of  other 
members  thereof.  If  one  member  is  disabled 
another  must  take  care  of  him,  and  to  the  de- 
gree the  latter  is  thus  occupied,  he  is  rendered 
incapable  of  productive  industries,  and  must  be 
supported  by  others.  It  may  seem  unkind  and 
unjust  to  call  him  a  moth,  his  work  being  neces- 
sary and  charitable,  yet  he  is  no  more  innocent 
of  offence  than  this  beggar  was,  and  as  he  is  by 
his  calling  rendered  incapable  of  contributing 
to  the  wealth  of  society,  he  becomes  a  tax 
upon  its  recourses.  Every  hospital,  asylum,  or 
infirmary  requires  an  army  of  officials,  nurses, 
physicians,  cooks,  and  scavengers,  all  of  whom 
consume  what  others  produce,  and  contribute 
nothing  to  their  own  support;  and  though  very 
useful,  as  a  discipline  of  our  sin  and  selfishness, 
in  ministering  to  the  unfortunate  necessities  of 
society  developed  therefrom,  they  are  yet  para- 
sites, evolved  of  social  suffering,  sin,  and  sel- 
fishness. 

But  there  are  many  other  varieties,  not  quite 
so  innocent,  yet  guiltless  of  any  intentional  of- 
fence, who  produce  such  things  as  are  supposed 
to  be  needed  and  are  sanctioned  by  the  civil 
laws,  but  are  either  useless  or  positively  harm- 
ful. Thus  when  Paul  was  preaching  at  Eph- 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  MOTH.        187 

esus  he  encountered  this  variety  in  the  person 
of  the  silversmith  Demetrius  (Acts  19 :  24-27) 
and  others  of  his  craft,  who  built  silver  shrines 
for  "The  Great  Goddess  Diana,"  whom  the 
people  worshipped,  believing  her  to  be  a 
daughter  of  Jupiter,  and  that  her  image  had 
dropped  down  from  heaven  upon  the  site  of  the 
great  temple  subsequently  erected  to  her 
honor.  This  faith  was  of  course  a  popular  de- 
lusion, but  as  "  all  Asia  and  the  world "  be- 
lieved it,  the  manufacture  of  her  silver  shrines 
was  considered  a  highly  honorable  calling, 
though  in  fact  highly  detrimental  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  people,  tending,  as  it  did,  to 
impoverish  them  by  limiting  the  production  of 
actual  necessities,  and  wasting  the  real  treas- 
ures of  life — although  it  tended  to  the  concen- 
tration of  wealth  at  Ephesus,  and  gave  em- 
ployment to  many  workmen.  All  concentra- 
tions of  wealth,  whether  in  places  or  persons, 
can  only  result  in  the  impoverishment  of  other 
places  and  persons,  except  it  be  held  by  its 
possessors  for  the  use  and  enrichment  of  all ; 
and  it  is  of  no  benefit  to  society  that  any 
workmen  should  find  employment  in  the  pro- 
duction of  useless  things,  but  on  the  contrary, 
by  thus  limiting  the  number  of  useful  laborers, 


188        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

its  capacity  for  the  acquirement  of  real  riches 
is  correspondingly  limited. 

All  superstitions  are  destructive  of  real  riches, 
whether  material  or  spiritual,  and  all  persons 
who  derive  a  livelihood  therefrom,  are  social 
moths.  And  no  doubt  there  are  very  many 
superstitions  in  the  churches,  some  of  which 
are  as  great  and  harmful  as  that  which  obtained 
at  Ephesus,  and  which  in  like  manner  by  con- 
centrating wealth  and  giving  employment  to 
many  craftsmen,  delude  the  masses  into  the  be- 
lief that  they  represent  the  true  culture  of  re- 
ligion and  the  well-being  of  society.  Like  the 
ancient  Athenians  many  congregations  nomi- 
nally Christian  worship  unknown  gods,  are  too 
superstitious  (Acts  17 :  22,  23),  and  as  a  natural 
and  inevitable  sequence  thereof  breed  and  feed 
a  great  many  moths.  Their  theological  schools, 
so  called,  instead  of  teaching  the  Fatherhood  of 
God  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man — which  is  the 
one  and  only  true  religion — are  mostly  devoted 
to  a  sectarian  idolatry  directly  opposed  to  the 
spirit  of  unity  in  the  gospel,  and  instead  of 
graduating  young  men  into  the  ministry  of 
Christ  turn  out  a  multitude  of  clerical  para- 
sites, who  obtain  a  livelihood  by  catering  to  the 
eccentricities,  bigotries,  and  prejudices  of  the 
sects  they  represent,  or  to  the  worldly  pride 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  MOTH.        189 

and  vanity  of  the  people  who  patronize  them — 
flatterers,  toadies,  sycophants,  puppets,  alive  it 
may  be  to  the  letter  of  the  gospel,  but  dead  to 
its  spirit;  "having  a  form  of  godliness  but 
denying  the  power  thereof  "  :  leading  "  captive 
silly  women  "  ;  "  ever  learning  and  never  able 
to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth"  (2 
Tim.  3:  5-7).  "Nevertheless  the  foundation 
of  God  standeth  sure,  having  this  seal,  The 
Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his  "  (2  Tim.  2 : 
19) ;  and  although  Christ  be  preached  in  pre- 
tence or  in  envy  and  strife,  he  is  yet  preached, 
and  therein  we  may  rejoice  (Phil.  1 :  15-18) ; 
for  the  gospel  is  a  social  leaven  (Matt.  13  :  33), 
and  must  produce  fermentation  until  the  im- 
purities of  the  church  are  eliminated,  and  the 
whole  lump  is  leavened.  No  doubt  these 
clerical  moths,  being  blinded  to  the  real  mis- 
sion of  the  Christ,  and  moreover  being  com- 
pelled to  seek  their  bread  from  the  world,  are 
guiltless  of  intentional  offence,  and  really  be- 
lieve they  are  doing  God's  service.  Nor  are  we 
to  believe  that  the  ministry  as  a  whole  are  in- 
sensible to  their  real  mission ;  for  no  doubt 
most  ministers  of  the  Church,  were  they  re- 
lieved from  the  stress  of  worldly  necessities 
whereby  the  flesh  is  made  weak,  would  speak 
boldly  in  condemnation  of  all  worldly  pride. 


190       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

vanity,  selfishness,  and  injustice,  and  in  defence 
of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  oppressed  and 
suffering  humanity.  As  in  every  "  great  house 
there  are  not  only  vessels  of  gold  and  silver, 
but  also  of  wood  arid  of  earth,  and  some  to 
honor  and  some  to  dishonor  "  (2  Tim.  2 :  20), 
so  even  in  a  corrupted  church  there  are  some 
true  prophets  and  priests  of  God,  and  some  in- 
tent only  on  the  professional  and  perfunctory 
discharge  of  such  religious  obligations  as  are 
imposed  upon  them  by  the  sects  they  represent. 

Besides  its  clerical  moths,  there  are  many 
other  parasites  evolved  and  developed  of  the 
Church  corrupted  through  worldly  influences, 
who  consume  and  waste  its  treasures — beggars 
who  subsist  upon  the  misplaced  alms  it  bestows 
upon  the  poor ;  laymen  who  avail  themselves 
of  its  popularity  to  promote  their  personal, 
worldly,  and  selfish  interests ;  lay  women  intent 
only  on  getting  into  good  society  so  called,  de- 
voted to  fanciful  forms  of  worship  that  involve 
great  and  useless  expense,  and  to  "outward 
adorning"  rather  than  to  the  incorruptible 
treasures  of  the  heart  (1  Pet.  3  :  3,  4). 

Even  the  charities  of  the  church  are  largely 
perverted,  being  consumed  and  wasted  by 
moths — all,  in  fact,  that  are  not  accompanied 
by  practical  efforts  to  prevent  and  cure  infirmi- 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   THE   MOTH.  1-91 

ties.  And  charity  thus  perverted  is  no  longer 
charity,  serving  only  to  produce  and  develop 
the  evils  it  is  intended  to  alleviate.  Charity, 
the  love  of  God  and  Man,  being  the  end  of  the 
law  for  righteousness  (1  Tim.  1  :  5),  all  gifts 
and  sacrifices  are  wasted  that  are  not  devoted 
to  this  end ;  and  all  who  make  such  gifts  or 
sacrifices,  as  also  all  who  are  occupied  in  their 
distribution,  are  moths,  not  only  useless  to  so- 
ciety but  destroyers  of  its  treasures.  To 
merely  mitigate  and  tide  over  present  distresses 
is  straining  at  gnats,  seeking  to  excuse  our- 
selves for  the  social  evils  for  which  we  are  our- 
selves guilty,  which  have  produced  such  dis- 
tresses, and  for  our  neglects  of  the  weightier 
matters  of  the  gospel  whereby  equal  rights  and 
privileges  may  be  bestowed  upon  all  men.  If 
by  our  charities  we  do  not  seek  to  make  the 
objects  thereof  as  free  and  equal  as  ourselves, 
they  are  not  only  wasted,  but  encourage  and 
develop  beggary.  Moreover,  if  we  bestow 
alms,  not  for  the  salvation  of  the  poor,  but  for 
our  own  personal  salvation — only  with  the  idea 
that  with  such  gifts  we  purchase  for  ourselves 
salvation — our  motive  is  simply  selfish  and 
purchases  our  own  damnation  ;  for  it  multiplies 
beggars  and  the  consequent  burdens  and  curses 
inflicted  upon  us.  We  may  even  give  all  our 


192       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

goods  to  feed  the  poor,  or  our  bodies  to  be 
burned  (1  Cor.  13:  3),  and  neither  receive  for 
ourselves  nor  bestow  any  profit  upon  others,  be- 
cause our  motive  is  vainglorious. 

So  also,  through  denorninationalism  and  lack 
of  unity  and  brotherly  love  in  the  church,  our 
missionary  offerings  designed  for  the  conver- 
sion of  the  heathen  are  largely  dissipated,  and 
the  missionaries  we  employ  converted  into  cler- 
ical moths.  As  the  sole  purpose  of  the  gospel 
of  the  Christ  is  the  practical  culture  of  the  love 
of  God  and  of  our  fellow-men — which  is  unity 
with  God  and  with  each  other — it  is  manifestly 
impossible  to  convert  men  to  the  Christian 
faith  except  there  be  unity  in  the  churches. 
Sectarianism  is  itself  disunity,  and  is  directly 
opposed  to  the  spirit  of  this  gospel ;  for  so  long 
as  we  are  ourselves  divided  it  is  but  hypocrisy 
to  preach  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
Brotherhood  of  Man.  And  however  great  our 
zeal,  though  we  compass  sea  and  land  to 
make  one  proselyte  (Matt.  23:  15),  we  cannot, 
being  ourselves  mere  parasites  of  the  Church 
and  lacking  the  Spirit  of  our  Master,  clothe  our 
converts  in  his  "wedding  garment." 

But  while  this  parasite  abounds  in  the 
churches  of  our  day,  subsisting  upon  its  dissi- 
pating and  dissipated  charities,  its  worldly  vani- 


THE   PROBLEM   Oi1    THE    MOTH.  193 

ties,  bigotries,  and  superstitions  that  have  crept 
in  unawares  (Gal.  2:  4;  3:  1;  Jude  4),  it  yet 
much  more  abounds  in  the  world — being  found 
in  almost  every  profession  and  calling — not  in- 
cluding common  beggars  and  tramps.  These 
are  notoriously  political  moths  who  feed  upon 
the  loaves  and  fishes  of  office  ;  and,  although 
they  may  represent  the  will  of  the  people,  are 
but  blind  leaders  of  the  blind,  doing  nothing 
for  the  improvement  and  well-being  of  society, 
itself  corrupt  through  ignorance,  lust,  selfish- 
ness, and  sin,  and  insensible  to  its  own  best 
interests.  There  is  no  greater  error  than  to 
suppose  it  to  be  the  duty  of  any  person  elected 
to  office  to  represent  his  constituency  by  cater- 
ing to  their  partisan  or  selfish  interests ;  for 
such  representation  is  not  for  the  true  interests 
of  the  people  but  against  them.  Those  only 
are  capable  of  representing  the  people  who  ap- 
prehend what  the  best  interests  of  the  people 
are  as  determined  by  the  natural,  moral,  and 
spiritual  laws  of  God.  As  a  true  father  repre- 
sents the  best  interests  of  his  children,  not  by 
humoring  their  whims,  follies,  caprices,  and  un- 
disciplined passions,  but  by  seeking  to  promote 
their  real  and  permanent  welfare,  so  should 
every  executive  officer,  legislator,  or  judge  seek 
to  perceive  and  do,  not  what  the  people  in  their 


194  THE   GATE    CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

blindness  may  desire,  but  what  serves  best  to  pro- 
mote their  real  and  enduring  prosperity.  This  is 
the  highest  statesmanship,  the  highest  political 
wisdom,  a  ruler  of  the  people  can  possess, — that 
which,  like  the  gift  God  bestowed  upon  Solo- 
mon, is  the  ability  and  desire  to  discern  and 
judge  between  good  and  bad  (1  Kings  3:  9). 
All  other  political  wisdom  is  but  foolishness 
with  God. 

Of  like  character  are  lawyers  who  pervert 
their  otherwise  noble  profession  into  a  system 
of  pettifoggery.  And  all  lawyers  who  obtain  a 
living  by  low  cunning  and  trickery  are  petti- 
foggers and  evil  parasites — intent  only  upon 
securing  large  fees,  and  instead  of  cultivating, 
teaching,  and  enforcing  the  principles  of  law 
and  vindicating  the  rights  and  liberties  of  men 
as  their  profession  requires,  foment  strife  and 
defend  and  justify  iniquity. — Of  the  same  kind 
also  are  quack  doctors  of  medicine, — and  all 
doctors  are  quacks,  however  otherwise  learned, 
whose  motive  is  chiefly  selfish — the  purpose 
and  desire  of  personal  gain  through  the  physical 
and  mental  infirmities  and  misfortunes  of  their 
fellow-men, — who  think  they  have  discharged 
their  whole  duty  when  they  have  administered 
poisonous  drugs  as  antidotes  for  the  temporary 
relief  of  their  patients,  while  they  do  nothing 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  MOTH.        195 

for  the  permanent  cure  and  prevention  of  dis- 
eases and  infirmities ;  whereas  it  is  quite  as 
much  the  duty  of  the  physician  of  the  body  to 
study,  teach,  and  preach  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples upon  which  physical  health  depends,  as 
it  is  for  the  physician  of  the  soul  to  inculcate 
the  principles  of  moral  and  spiritual  laws  essen- 
tial to  its  present  and  eternal  welfare.' 

The  like  is  also  true  of  literateurs,  artists, 
and  musicians,  whose  ideals  and  realizations  of 
their  otherwise  useful  callings  contribute  little 
or  nothing  to  the  true  culture  of  society,  serving 
only  to  satisfy  morbid  cravings  for  entertain- 
ment, and  whose  merits  are  estimated  only  by 
their  commercial  value.  Also  of  manufacturers, 
merchants,  craftsmen,  laborers,  so  far  as  they 
produce,  distribute,  construct,  or  handle  need- 
less or  harmful  luxuries  of  dress,  food,  drink, 
shelter  or  any  other  thing,  the  desire  or  neces- 
sity of  which  is  evolved  and  developed  of  cor- 
rupt and  unnatural  social  conditions.  Nor  are 
educators,  students,  journalists,  who  teach, 
study,  or  disseminate  such  knowledge,  wisdom, 
or  information  as  is  foolishness  with  God,  or 
positively  corrupting  and  harmful  in  our  social 
life,  other  than  evil  parasites. 

With  such  a  vast  and  varied  multitude  of 
people  who  are  supported  by  society,  but  who 


196       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

contribute  little  or  nothing  to  its  wealth,  we 
cannot  wonder  there  should  be  so  much  poverty 
and  distress  in  the  world.  There  are  enough 
and  more  than  enough  riches  consumed  by 
moths  to  supply  all  the  real  necessities  and 
comforts  of  the  poor,  and  if  this  destructive 
element  were  eliminated,  as  it  easily  might  be, 
and  converted  into  Useful  and  productive  in- 
dustry, social  suffering  and  oppression  would 
be  correspondingly  alleviated. 


PART  II. 

THE   PROBLEM   OF   THE  BUST. 

AKIN  to  the  Moth,  but  varying  therefrom  in 
species,  there  is  another  social  parasite  whom 
the  Christ  designated  as  the  Rust.  As  in  the 
physical  so  in  the  spiritual  world — that  is,  as 
in  those  of  Substance,  so  also  in  the  evolutions 
and  developments  of  the  principles  of  Nature 
and  Art — rust  represents  a  process  of  disinte- 
gration, whether  by  slow  burning  or  rapid  con- 
flagration. Its  presence  in  society,  tending  to 
decompose  and  weaken  the  religious  bond  that 
binds  men  to  God  and  to  each  other,  is  certain 
evidence  of  social  degeneration  and  decay,  and 
unless  removed  is-  the  sure  harbinger  of  ulti- 
mate and  complete  disintegration.  Its  first 
symptom  is  usually  a  foul  accretion  at  the  sur- 
face, which,  if  not  wiped  away,  burns  deeper 
and  deeper  into  the  system  till  the  whole  or- 
ganism is  dissipated. 

Although  this  beggar  is  properly  classified  as 
a  moth,  a  social  parasite  distinct  in  species  from 
the  Rust,  he  was  yet  of  the  same  genus  or 

197 


198  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

kind,  as  all  parasites  are,  illustrating,  as  he  did, 
in  his  whole  physical,  mental,  and  spiritual 
organism  the  process  of  suppression,  waste, 
and  dissipation  of  his  faculties.  By  his  one 
infirmity  the  natural  endowments  and  activi- 
ties of  a  human  being  had  been  repressed  in 
him,  and  were  in  a  state  of  rust  and  decay,  it 
being  a  natural  law  that  any  organism  not 
used  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  designed 
shall  be  destroyed.  Yet  he  differed  from  the 
Rust,  not  having  by  his  own  act  incurred  his 
disability,  and  not  unwilling  to  help  himself. 

As  Rust  is  dissipation,  that  of  society  is 
represented  in  all  dissipated  members  thereof, 
who  waste  its  treasures,  either  by  indisposition 
to  use  and  improve  them,  or  by  perverting 
them  to  unnatural  uses  ;  and  is  like  the  Moth 
of  many  varieties — physical,  mental,  and  spirit- 
ual. Nor  are  these  varieties  limited  to  any 
particular  classes, — rich  or  poor,  learned  or  un- 
learned, religious  or  irreligious — all  being  more 
or  less  dissipated  in  body,  mind,  and  spirit, 
through  selfishness,  and  may  all  be  described 
as  the  intemperate  elements  of  our  social  life — 
the  gluttonous  and  drunken,  the  profligate  and 
licentious,  the  prodigal  and  extravagant,  the 
indolent  and  thriftless. 

Manifestly  to  the  degree  that  such  rust  ex- 


THE  PROBLEM  OP  THE  RUST.         199 

ists  is  society  impoverished,  and  there  is  pre- 
sented therein  a  great  social  problem,  the  solu- 
tion of  which  is  absolutely  essential  to  the 
stability  and  progress  of  our  race.  While  dis- 
sipation exists,  and  we  derive  a  fictitious  and 
harmful  pleasure  therein,  even  riches  become  a 
curse,  a  source  of  poverty  and  distress,  and 
the  more  the  one  is  increased,  so  much  the 
more  is  the  other  also.  Rust  could  not  exist  if 
there  were  nothing  for  it  to  feed  upon  ;  and  as 
wealth  unused  or  perverted  to  evil  purposes 
induces  rust,  the  greater  the  apparent  wealth 
of  a  corrupt  community,  the  greater  also  will 
be  its  rust  and  a  corresponding  lack  of  free- 
dom, equity,  and  brotherhood.  What  then  ? 
Must  we  be  poor  in  order  to  be  temperate  ? 
Must  we  have  nothing  that  there  may  be 
no  opportunity  for  rust  ?  No  doubt  this  is 
natural  law — that  perverted  wealth  shall  de- 
velop poverty ;  that  to  the  degree  we  misuse 
our  good  gifts  are  they  taken  from  us, — 
but  if  we  use  them  for  the  purpose  for 
which  they  are  designed,  which  is  to  minister 
to  our  necessities,  they  will  increase-  as  our 
necessities  increase  through  the  development 
of  our  capacities  for  enjoyment  by  true  culture 
and  refinement.  Our  necessities  are  the  pre- 
cise measure  of  our  real  wealth,  being  all 


200  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

things  essential  to  our  sustenance,  growth,  com- 
fort, and  enjoyment.  Thus  proper  food  and 
drink,  being  the  mediums  of  physical  life  and 
its  preservation,  are  real  treasures.  Hence  by 
nature  we  hunger  and  thirst,  and  from  the 
satisfaction  of  such  cravings  we  naturally  de- 
rive substantial  blessings ;  but  if  through  a 
vitiated  art  we  unduly  stimulate  and  pamper 
our  appetites  that  we  may  unnaturally  increase 
and  prolong  enjoyments,  we  become  gluttonous 
and  drunken,  weaken  and  decrease  our  capaci- 
ties for  enjoyment,  and  waste  and  destroy  our 
treasures. 

Temperance  is  moderation ;  and  moderation 
is  the  economical  adjustment  of  our  desires  and 
uses  to  our  actual  necessities  (Phil.  4:5).  If 
therefore  we  desire  or  use  more  or  less  than  we 
need,  we  are  intemperate — there  being  in  the 
one  case  loss  through  excess,  and  in  the  other 
through  deprivation, — and  in  either  case  our 
faculties  for  enjoyment  are  impaired  and  our 
treasures  wasted.  That  is,  superfluity  and 
want,  gluttony  and  starvation,  are  equally  in- 
temperate, and  produce  rust  and  decay. 

As  the  necessities  of  society  increase  with  the 
increase  of  its  culture  in  its  ability  to  possess 
and  enjoy,  and  as  society  is  one  organic  whole, 
it  is  plain  that  such  necessities  must  be  experi- 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  RUST.         201 

enced  alike  by  all  members  thereof;  and  to  the 
degree  that  there  is  inequality — some  having 
more  than  enough  to  supply  their  necessities, 
and  others  less — there  will  be  intemperance. 
That  is,  social  moderation — an  absence  of  ex- 
cess either  in  the  use  or  disuse  of  necessities — 
is  impossible  without  social  equality.  In  fact 
moderation  is  equality — a  just  equilibrium  of 
necessities  among  all  members,  and  in  oppor- 
tunities of  supplying  such  necessities.  Hence, 
if  the  rich,  having  more  than  they  need,  waste 
their  substance  in  riotous  living — in  indolence, 
luxury,  and  extravagance, — society  is  rusted 
and  in  a  condition  of  decay  to  the  degree  of 
such  waste  (Jas.  5  :  1-3) ;  and  the  same  is  true 
to  the  degree  that  the  poor  are  deprived  of 
what  is  needful  to  their  well-being  and  in- 
creased capacities  for  acquirement  and  happi- 
ness. Extremes  are  always  unsocial,  and  meet 
in  the  production  of  the  same  social  rust — ex- 
tremes of  wealth  with  those  of  poverty,  of 
gluttony  with  starvation,  of  extravagance  in 
dress  with  rags  and  nakedness,  of  culture  with 
brutality,  of  pleasure  with  pain,  of  charity  with 
beggary,  of  industrial  devotion  with  avarice, 
and  even  of  religious  zeal  with  spiritual  apathy. 
Thus  the  source  of  Rust  like  that  of  other 
parasites  is  traced  to  an  unsocial  and  therefore 


202  THE   GATE    CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

an  unnatural  condition  of  society ;  and  such 
condition  is  itself  the  result  of  selfishness 
whereby  the  interests  of  individuals  and  classes 
are  separated  from,  and  made  antagonistic  to, 
each  other.  If,  therefore,  we  would  promote 
temperance  we  should  promote  social  equality. 
And  if  we  would  promote  equality  we  should 
promote  temperance ;  for  neither  can  exist 
without  the  other. 

To  be  sure,  society  cannot  be  temperate  so 
long  as  individuals  are  intemperate ;  but  it  is 
equally  true  that  individuals  cannot  be  temper- 
ate so  long  as  society  is  intemperate.  No  doubt 
society  and  the  individuals  who  compose  it  are 
mutually  responsible  for  their  existing  social 
conditions,  yet  society  is  primarily  responsible, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  empowered  to  compel  obedi- 
ence to  the  laws  of  God  ;  and  although  it  can- 
not be  perfect  except  to  the  degree  that  such 
laws  are  fulfilled  in  love — that  is  voluntarily — 
by  its  individual  members,  it  can  improve  to  the 
degree  that  it  enforces  such  laws,  the  law  being 
a  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  to  Christ  (Gal.  3 : 
24).  So  long,  therefore,  as  society  not  only 
tolerates  inequalities  in  its  members,  but  also 
enforces  them,  it  is  impossible  to  solve  the 
problem  of  social  rust.  Thus  while  the  poor 
man  is  compelled  to  live  in  a  condition  of  un- 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  RUST.         203 

natural  repression  in  the  use,  culture,  and  en- 
joyment of  the  natural  gifts  God  has  bestowed 
upon  all  men  alike — to  toil  constantly,  not  only 
for  his  own  daily  bread,  clothing  and  shelter, 
but  also  to  supply  the  rich  with  superfluities, 
and  enable  them  to  live  in  idleness,  luxury,  and 
pleasure, — all  legislation  to  enforce  temperate 
and  economical  living  is  either  hypocritical,  or 
a  mere  straining  at  gnats.  Not  till  all  classes 
are  given  equal  opportunities  for  physical, 
mental,  and  spiritual  culture,  and  each  is  com- 
pelled to  contribute  according  to  his  abilities 
equally  to  the  productive  industries  of  society, 
— to  its  food,  drink,  clothing,  shelter,  care,  in- 
struction, and  general  improvement,  can  the 
evils  of  intemperance  and  social  rust  be  elimi- 
nated. 

Now  one  of  the  greatest  obstacles  to  the  pro- 
motion of  temperance  is  the  limited  conception 
of  its  meaning  in  the  popular  mind.  Thus,  if 
one  abstains  from  the  use  of  strong  drinks,  he 
is  regarded  as  sufficiently  temperate,  whereas 
total  abstinence  from  any  good  thing,  though 
often  necessary  as  a  discipline  in  our  perverted 
social  condition,  is  not  temperance,  but  on  the 
contrary  intemperance,  God  permitting — nay 
even  requiring  us  as  essential  to  our  welfare — 
to  use  in  moderation  all  things  he  has  bestowed 


204        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

upon  us,  as  also  all  things  we  can  lawfully  de- 
velop and  acquire  from  our  natural  resources 
(1  Cor.  6:  12-20;  10:  23-31;  Col.  2:  16-20). 
Intemperance  is  always  excess  (Eph.  5:  18; 
1  Pet.  4 :  3,  4) ;  and  any  excess  is  always  in- 
temperance— excess  in  what  is  otherwise  good. 
Now  as  the  love  of  money  is  a  root  of  all  evil, 
and  notably  among  people  professedly  Chris- 
tian, from  such  love  are  evolved  and  developed 
all  evil  parasites,  especially  the  Rust.  Doubt- 
less the  excessive,  enslaving,  and  almost  exclu- 
sive devotion  of  our  age  to  what  is  called  busi- 
ness is  its  greatest  dissipation,  tempting  and 
even  compelling,  as  it  does,  most  men  to  lead 
unnatural  lives — to  devote  their  whole  time 
and  strength  to  the  accumulation  and  hoarding 
of  treasures  on  earth,  "where  moth  and  rust 
doth  corrupt  and  where  thieves  break  through 
and  steal,"  or  simply  to  save  themselves  from 
penury  and  starvation.  In  this  way  selfishness 
is  cultured  and  even  made  a  necessity,  while 
our  higher  emotional,  intellectual,  moral,  and 
religious  faculties  are  repressed  and  rusted.  In 
fact,  every  infirmity  and  social  evil,  all  waste, 
dissipation,  and  thievery,  may  be  traced  to  this 
one  root  of  all  evil,  the  love  of  money ;  and  as 
this  love  is  more  cultured  and  stimulated  in 
our  day  than  it  has  ever  been  before,  more 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  RUST.         205 

and  worse  varieties  of  evil  parasites  have  been 
produced.  Most  social  interests  have  become 
thereby  venal — whether  political,  industrial, 
educational,  or  religious, — and  their  value  esti- 
mated by  the  money  that  is  in  them.  Little 
else  is  regarded  of  any  utility  or  profit,  whether 
of  occupations,  honors,  rewards  or  aspirations. 
In  short,  Mammon  has  come  to  be  worshipped 
as  the  one  only  living  and  true  God.  Natur- 
ally, either  compelled  by  the  stress  of  poverty, 
or  incited  thereto  by  the  greed  of  gain,  our 
energies  have  become  chiefly  devoted  to  the 
development  of  earthly  riches,  and  as  a  natural 
sequence  thereof — it  being  impossible  to  trans- 
fer such  riches  to  the  next  life,  while  our  spirit- 
ual nature  has  been  repressed  by  our  exclusive 
devotion  to  them — there  has  been  a  correspond- 
ing development  of  social  rust.  Human  art 
has  been  perverted  and  stimulated  to  the  ut- 
most, not  only  to  acquire  earthly  riches,  but 
also  to  devise  means  for  the  sensual  enjoyment 
thereof  in  foods,  drinks,  dresses,  houses,  decora- 
tions, and  entertainments. 

Now  it  should  be  manifest  that  the  true 
church — that  social  condition  in  which  there  is 
unity  of  interests,  purposes,  and  aspirations, 
and,  through  the  love  of  God  and  of  each  other, 
an  equality  of  opportunities  and  privileges  con- 


THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

ferred — represents  the  true  and  only  social  con- 
dition in  which  neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  cor- 
rupt, nor  thieves  break  through  and  steal.  But 
it  is  as  impossible  that  there  should  be  a  true 
church  in  which  inequality  and  consequent  in- 
temperance, waste,  and  dissipation  are  toler- 
ated, as  that  there  should  be  a  kingdom  of 
Heaven  in  which  evil  parasites  exist  (1  Cor. 
6:  9,  10;  Gal.  5:  21).— although  while  yet 
imperfect,  as  it  must  necessarily  be  in  a  sinful 
world,  its  faith  is  counted  unto  it  for  righteous- 
ness, if  it  strive  to  practically  realize  its  true 
ideal.  To  the  degree,  therefore,  that  the  church 
has  itself  become  degenerate  and  rusted,  and 
not  only  tolerates  unjust  social  inequalities,  but 
evolves,  develops,  and  propagates  dissipation  or 
any  other  evil  parasite,  is  its  power  of  redemp- 
tion impaired.  And  that  it  is  greatly  rusted 
cannot  be  doubted — full  of  worldly  inequalities 
and  excesses : — wisdom  that  is  foolishness  with 
God  (1  Cor.  3:  19), — fashions  that  pass  away 
(1  Cor.  7:  31), — friendships  of  the  world  that 
are  enmity  with  God  (Jas.  4  :  4), — lying  vani- 
ties (Jonah  2:8;  Acts  14:  15), — cares  of  this 
world  and  deceitfulness  of  riches  (Matt.  13 :  22), 
— lusts  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  eyes,  and  the 
pride  of  life  (1  John  1 :  16), — and  all  other  dis- 
sipations typified  in  the  Scarlet  Woman  (Rev. 


THE  PROBLEM  OP  THE  EUST.         207 

17:  1-6),  and  in  the  Babylon  of  a  perverted 
and  corrupted  social  life  (Rev.  18:  2,  3). 

It  is,  of  course,  easy  enough  to  form  a  con- 
gregation, but  to  constitute  a  church  of  Christ 
such  congregation  must  have  an  eye  single  to 
his  service  (Matt.  6  :  22,  23  ;  Acts  2:  46)..  Its 
spirit  must  be  his  spirit  (Rom.  8 :  9),  its  pur- 
pose his  purpose  (Eph.  3 :  10,  11),  its  works  his 
works  (John  4:  34;  Jas.  1 :  25 ;  Rev.  2:  26). 
Otherwise,  though  it  be  called  a  church,  it  is  of 
the  world,  of  the  earth  earthy.  In  short,  if  it 
represent  anything  more  or  less  in  its  teachings 
and  worship  than  the  mission  of  the  Christ,  it  is 
not  his  congregation.  All  else  cometh  of  evil 
(Matt.  5 :  37). 

While  in  the  true  church  there  is  growth  in 
all  useful  things — in  knowledge,  strength,  life, 
and  enjoyment — which  is  the  increase  of  faith, 
patience,  hope,  and  charity,  all  other  increase  is 
but  evidence  of  dissipation — the  foul  accretions 
of  rust  and  mould,  or  the  fungous  growths 
which,  though  often  pretty,  are  evolved  of  dis- 
ease and  decay.  Such  foul  accretions  are  ec- 
clesiasticisms,  and  all  ecclesiasticisms  are  foul 
accretions,  coming  of  evil — all  conventional  and 
professional  titles  whereby  personal  and  exclu- 
sive distinctions,  prerogatives,  emoluments,  priv- 
ileges, and  powers  are  conferred  (Job  32 :  21, 


208  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

22 ;  Matt.  23 :  5-10).  None  of  the  apostles  as- 
sumed any  such  titles,  but  in  obedience  to  their 
Master  were  content  to  be  called  his  servants — 
the  very  highest  title  that  can  be  conferred  upon 
men  (Matt.  23 :  11,  12).  In  fact  the  idea  of 
the  Church,  which  is  Christ's  Body,  has  become 
so  obscured  in  ecclesiasticisms,  that  it  is  difficult 
to  discern  therein  its  real  character  and  mis- 
sion. There  is  excess  of  ritual  in  place  of  wor- 
ship ;  churchiness  in  plate  of  churchliness ; 
much  praying  to  be  seen  of  men,  mere  Pharisee- 
ism  and  lip  service  (Matt.  6 :  5 ;  15 :  8),  asking 
God  to  do  for  us  what  we  can  and  should  do 
for  ourselves  (Ex.  14,  15;  Phil.  2:  12),  which 
is  but  weariness  to  him  (Isa.  1 :  14,  15) — in 
place  of  personal  effort  and  sacrifice,  seeking 
to  know  and  do  our  duty  to  God  and  man,  and 
the  culture  of  true  desires  and  aspirations. 
Of  like  character  are  sacramentalisms,  whereby 
sacred  rites,  ordained  in  the  Church  by  the 
Christ  and  his  apostles  as  tokens  of  his 
covenants  and  promises,  are  made  •  magic  arts 
and  forms  of  superstition  and  fetichism ;  sac- 
erdotalisms in  place  of  preaching  and  proph- 
ecy ;  morbid  pietisms  in  place  of  practical, 
spiritual,  and  manly  culture ;  childish  pipings 
for  others  to  dance  and  mournings  for  others  to 
lament  (Matt.  11 :  16,  17)  in  place  of  manly  ex- 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  BUST.         209 

hortations,  moral  courage,  and  earnest  and  prac- 
tical sympathy  with  wronged  and  suffering  hu- 
manity ;  speculative  creeds  and  dogmas  of  man's 
appointment  in  place  of  the  plain  and  simple 
principles  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  (Isa.  35 :  8 ; 
John  7:  17);  sectarianisms,  built  on  such  man- 
made  creeds  (Matt.  15 :  9;  Eph.  4 :  14),  in  place 
of  unity  and  brotherly  love ;  austerity  in  place 
of  cheerfulness  (Zech.  8 :  19 ;  Matt.  6 :  16-18)  ; 
mystery,  soothsaying,  sorcery,  and  magic  in 
place  of  enlightenment,  spiritual  culture  and 
power,  and  genuine  miracles  (Isa.  2 :  6-9 ;  Acts 
8 :  11 ;  Rev.  17 :  5 ;  18 :  23)— all  mystery,  dark- 
ness, and  superstition  having  been  dispelled  in 
the  coming  of  the  Christ  (Matt.  10 :  26 ;  13 : 
11 ;  Acts  17 :  22,  23 ;  1  Cor.  4:5;  Eph.  3:9); 
excess  of  music  and  decoration  in  place  of  heart- 
felt praise  (Ps.  138 :  1,  2),  the  refinements  of 
divine  art,  and  the  ineffable  beauty  of  holiness 
(Ps.  29 :  2),  which  are  found  only  in  simplicity 
(Matt.  6 :  28,  29 ;  2  Cor.  11:3);  sentimentalisrn 
and  sensationalism  in  place  of  study  and  teach- 
ing and  the  practical  culture  of  knowledge  in 
the  Way,  Truth,  and  Life  of  God  (Eccl.  7 :  25 ; 
Luke  8  :  15 ;  2  Tim.  2 :  15,  16)  ;  making  clean 
the  outside  of  the  cup  while  within  it  is  full  of 
extortion  and  excess;  deferring  wholly  to  the 
next  life  the  realization  of  the  hope  and  prom- 


210  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

ise  of  the  gospel  in  order  to  avoid  the  necessary 
sacrifice  and  discipline  of  the  present  life  (Isa. 
49 :  7,  8 ;  2  Cor.  6:2;  Jas.  2  :  16) ;  giving  sil- 
ver and  gold  instead  of  taking  the  poor  by  the 
hand,  setting  them  on  their  feet  and  making 
them  equal  with  ourselves  in  opportunities  (Acts 
3 :  4-8) — as  if  we  thought  the  gifts  of  God 
could  be  purchased  with  money  (Acts  8 :  28). 

All  these  are  of  a  sinful  and  selfish  world, 
whose  friendship  is  enmity  with  God,— devi- 
ations from  the  straight  and  narrow  way — 
neither  forgetting  the  things  which  are  behind, 
nor  pressing  forward  unto  the  things  which  are 
before,  but  turning  again  to  the  enslaving  and 
beggarly  rudiments  of  the  world  (Gal.  4:  3-9; 
Col.  2 :  8,  20),  to  its  idolatries,  superstitions, 
bigotries,  pomps,  and  vanities.  There  is  but 
one  mark  set  before  the  church, — the  prize  of 
the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  the  Per- 
fect Manhood,  "  the  measure  of  the  stature  of 
the  fullness  of  Christ,"  in  which  only  can  be 
realized  a  social  condition  of  perfect  liberty 
(John  8 :  36),  equality  (Rom.  8 :  14-17),  and 
fraternity  (Mark  3 :  35).  All  ecclesiasticisms, 
and  indeed  all  other  isms,  are  excesses  and  symp- 
toms of  dissipation  and  rust, — at  the  best  unes- 
sential, and  therefore  extravagances,  gluttonies, 
adulteries,  and  riotous  living.  Wherefore,  as 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  RUST.        211 

the  true  Church  of  Christ  represents  the  one 
and  only  true  system  of  sociology,  it  is  plain 
that  this  great  problem  of  the  Rust  can  be  prac- 
tically solved  only  by  the  regeneration,  refor- 
mation, and  renovation  of  its  present  congrega- 
tions, whereby  all  dissipations,  extravagances, 
and  unessential  things  may  be  suppressed  and 
eliminated,  and  the  true  economies  and  increase 
of  faith,  hope,  and  charity  be  cultured  through 
the  love  of  God  and  Man.  When  it  is  itself 
redeemed  from  its  degeneracies  it  may  redeem 
the  world,  but  not  otherwise. 


PART  III. 

THE  PROBLEM   OF  THE  THIEF. 

As  charity  is  the  crowning  virtue,  so  is 
thievery  the  crowning  vice — it  being,  either  in 
letter  or  spirit,  the  transgression  of  every  social 
law ;  and  as  the  God  of  love  is  the  giver  of  all 
good  gifts,  so  is  Satan  the  thief  and  destroyer 
(Mark  4:  15;  1  Pet.  5:  8).  Hence,  to  the 
degree  we  are  charitable  and  do  unto  others  as 
we  would  they  should  do  unto  us,  are  we 
honest  and  godly ;  and  to  the  degree  we  are 
selfish  and  rob  and  oppress  each  other  are  we 
dishonest  and  satanic. 

Now  if,  as  we  have  shown,  most  evil  para- 
sites are  developed  in  society  by  its  own  trans- 
gressions or  perversions  of  the  natural  and 
moral  laws  of  God,  it  is  responsible  for  the  ex- 
istence of  the  thief  so  far  as  it  lacks  in  dispo- 
sition and  effort  to  reform  itself.  It  is,  in  fact, 
impossible  there  should  be  any  occasion  for 
thievery,  if  all  members  or  classes  could  pos- 
sess all  that  justly  belongs  to  them,  and  were 
given  equal  opportunities  for  honestly  acquir- 
212 


THE   PROBLEM   OP   THE   THIEF.  213 

ing  all  things  essential  to  their  well-being ;  and 
if  we  would  clearly  understand  this  social 
problem,  and  practically  apply  our  knowledge 
to  its  solution,  we  must  become  conscious  and 
repent  us  of  our  sin  and  selfishness,  whereby 
others  are  deprived  of  equal  rights  and  oppor- 
tunities with  ourselves,  and  tempted  and  often 
in  a  measure  compelled  to  steal  in  order  to 
obtain  a  livelihood.  Simply  punishing  the  of- 
fender by  fine  and  imprisonment  will  avail  little 
so  long  as  we  ourselves,  whether  consciously  or 
unconsciously,  are  guilty  of  the  like  offence 
(Matt.  18 :  7).  While  -we  may  and  should 
punish  thieves  if  we  ourselves  are  guiltless  of 
thievery,  it  but  involves  us  in  a  like  offence  to 
attempt  to  cast  motes  out  of  our  brother's  eyes 
when  there  are  beams  in  our  own  eyes.  And 
that  we  are  guilty  is  self-evident  if  we  willingly 
permit  the  necessity  of  stealing,  or  the  tempta- 
tion thereto,  to  exist  through  our  own  cupidity, 
injustice,  and  oppression. 

As  like  produces  like — and  nothing  could 
exist  wholly  unlike  that  which  produced  it — 
society  must  be  like  the  thief  it  has  evolved, 
and  in  its  organic  unity,  in  the  established  re- 
lations of  its  members  and  classes  to  each 
other,  be  in  conflict  with  the  principles  of  true 
religion — of  natural,  moral,  and  spiritual  laws 


214  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

(Jer.  22 :  13).  Its  motives  and  methods  must 
be  the  motives  and  methods  of  the  thief ;  and 
as  the  thief  is  selfish,  and  takes  without  right 
or  leave  that  which  belongs  to  another,  so  must 
the  various  members  and  classes  of  society  be 
also  selfish  and  transgressors  upon  each  other's 
rights.  The  only  difference  is  that  society 
does  this  openly  by  a  process  of  thievery  called 
civil  law  (Isa.  10  :  1),  and  the  common  thief 
stealthily  in  violation  thereof.  And  yet  we 
have  no  right  to  say  that,  because  other  per- 
sons hold  greater  possessions  than  we  under  the 
civil  law,  they  are  thieves;  for  such  persons 
may  be  temperate,  and  saving,  while  we  may 
be,  or  our  progenitors  from  whom  we  may  have 
inherited  our  poverty  may  have  been,  intemper- 
ate and  wasteful. 

Civil  laws,  so  far  as  they  are  in  harmony 
with  the  laws  of  God  both  in  letter  and  spirit, 
are  practically  God's  laws,  but  if  administered 
only  in  the  letter,  or  in  the  spirit  of  selfish- 
ness, are  unequal,  and  are  simply  devices  of 
Satan  for  the  enslavement  of  men.  The  real 
motive  of  all  God's  laws  is  charity,  and  in  the 
spirit  of  love  only  can  they  be  fulfilled  ;  and 
the  same  should  be  true  also  of  all  civil  laws, 
for  otherwise  they  become  only  mediums  of 
avarice  and  oppression.  Hence,  if  under  the 


THE  PROBLEM  OP  THE  THIEF.        215 

protection  of  the  civil  laws,  any  member  or 
class  of  society  acquires  wealth  and  holds  it 
selfishly  and  exclusively  to  his  own  use,  the 
same  is  a  thief  and  robber  (Rom.  2 :  21)  ;  and 
in  like  manner  any  member  who,  under  the 
law — which  when  it  says,  "  thou  shalt  not 
steal,"  means  also  that  thou  shalt  earn  thine 
own  living — is  poor  through  his  own  dissipation 
and  thriftlessness  (Hag.  1  :  6,  15),  also  a  thief 
and  robber.  Civil  laws  can  be  brought  into 
harmony  with  divine  laws  only  when  they  do 
not  permit  any  man  to  be  selfishly  rich  or  need- 
lessly poor ;  and  when  this  is  accomplished  this 
problem  of  the  thief  is  solved,  so  far  as  by  law 
it  can  be  solved — not  fully  in  the  spirit,  but  in 
the  letter.  Such  solution,  however, — that  is, 
by  compulsory  equality — is  possible  only  to  the 
degree  that  society  is  leavened  with  the  spirit 
of  the  gospel ;  for  so  long  as  individuals  and 
classes  are  indisposed  to  do  unto  others  as 
they  would  that  others  should  do  unto  them, 
are  they  indisposed  to  enforce  the  laws.  In 
other  words,  thieves  cannot  be  entrusted  to  en- 
force the  laws  they  themselves  violate  either  in 
the  letter  or  in  the  spirit. 

Assuming,  therefore,  that  this  problem  can- 
not be  practically  and  finally  solved  except 
through  the  influence  of  Christian  principles, 


216       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

it  is  self-evident  that  the  congregations  of  the 
church  must,  if  they  would  save  the  world 
or  themselves,  present  examples  of  voluntary 
honesty  and  social  equality — that  is,  social 
equity,  which  is  true  equality — in  themselves, 
and,  to  the  utmost  of  their  power  and  influence 
in  the  world,  by  the  enforcement  therein  of  the 
natural  and  moral  laws  of  God,  strive  to  repress 
all  thievery.  For  if  the  church  cannot  solve 
this  problem  in  itself,  it  surely  cannot  solve  it 
in  the  world. 

Now  while  we  would  not  say  that  the  church 
of  our  day  has  become  a  den  of  thieves — it 
representing,  as  it  doubtless  does,  the  best 
moral  and  religious  culture  society  has  attained 
since  the  Apostolic  Church  became  corrupted — 
its  congregations  are  yet  very  far  from  realizing 
in  themselves  and  presenting  to  the  world  such 
examples  of  social  equity  as  existed  in  the 
Divine  Original. 

While  in  so  many  words  it  is  instructed  that 
it  cannot  serve  two  masters,  for  either  it  will 
hate  the  one  and  love  the  other,  or  else  it  will 
hold  to  the  one  and  despise  the  other,  it  yet 
attempts  to  serve  both  God  and  Mammon  (Matt. 
6 :  24) — forgetful  that  friendship  to  the  world 
is  enmity  to  God ;  not  making  the  mammon  of 
unrighteousness  friendly  to  itself,  but  itself 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  THIEF.        217 

friendly  to  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness. 
Indeed  it  is  impossible  to  estimate  to  how  great 
an  extent  its  congregations  are  robbed  by  sys- 
tematic trickeries  and  impositions  practiced 
upon  them  through  their  vanities,  ignorances, 
and  superstitions,  whereby  they  are  made  to 
believe  they  are  purchasing  salvation  with 
money,  and  by  devoting  their  time  to  the  ob- 
servance of  worse  than  useless  ecclesiasticisms. 
Moreover,  in  its  social  polities,  instead  of  pre- 
senting an  example  for  the  world  to  follow,  the 
church  follows  the  ways  of  the  world,  and  pre- 
sents in  itself  similar  social  inequalities  and 
inequities. 

In  the  church  as  in  the  world  the  love  of 
money  is  a  root  of  all  evils, — of  thievery  as 
well  as  of  rust  and  beggary, — for  all  selfish  in- 
equalities are  thievery ;  and  so  far  as  there  is 
this  love  in  the  congregation  is  there  thievery 
in  spirit.  Nor  can  this  spirit  be  effaced  so  long 
as  clergymen's  salaries  are  regarded  as  pay  for 
their  labors  rather  than  voluntary  contributions 
to  their  necessities  (Phil.  4  :  16-19) ;  for  anyone 
who  receives  pay  or  reward  beyond  his  actual 
necessities  for  the  service  he  justly  owes  as  a 
social  being  to  his  neighbors  is  necessarily 
avaricious  (Ezek.  34  :  2-10) ;  and  if  any  be  un- 
willing to  share  his  salary  equally  with  his 


218  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

brethren  according  to  their  needs,  he  is  in 
spirit  selfish  and  thievish.  Each,  if  he  would 
be  as  his  Master  (Luke  6  :  40),  must  be  content 
with  his  penny,  even  though  he  have  borne  the 
burden  and  heat  of  the  day  (Matt.  20  :  1-15). 
And  what  is  true  of  the  ministry  in  relation  to 
their  salaries  is  true  of  the  laity  in  relation  to 
their  incomes  (Luke  18:  22;  Acts  4:  34,  35; 
Rom.  12  :  13  ;  Eph.  4 :  28  ;  1  Tim.  6  :  17,  18), 
for  one  who  is  unwilling  to  give  as  he  receives 
is  also  selfish  and  thievish  (Ezek.  34 :  17-31), 
blind  to  his  own  best  interests,  and  cannot 
enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

So  also  any  member  of  the  church,  whether 
clerical  or  lay,  who  receives  and  accepts  any 
contribution  or  income  for  useless  labors,  be- 
stowed through  the  misfortunes,  ignorances, 
superstitions  or  bigotries  of  others,  is  not  only 
a  moth  and  rust,  but  also  a  thief.  Nothing 
whatever  deserves  or  can  justly  claim  any  re- 
ward in  this  life  or  the  next  that  is  not,  like 
virtue,  its  own  reward,  and  conducive  to  the 
eternal  and  social  well-being  of  men.  All  min- 
istrations and  moneys,  therefore,  that  are  not 
contributed  to  real  necessities  of  life  and  happi- 
ness are  wasted ;  and  being  selfishly  procured 
through  the  ignorant  credulity  of  the  people, 
are  taken  by  stealth  and  stolen.  To  receive  a 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   THE   THIEF.  219 

salary,  for  example,  for  pastoral  work,  and  yet 
devote  one's  time  and  the  contributions  of 
ignorant  and  deluded  people  to  ministrations  in 
rusty  ecclesiasticisms  and  dogmatic  and  sectar- 
ian bigotries,  or  to  any  other  object  than  the 
culture  of  love  and  obedience  to  God  the  Father, 
and  unity  and  brotherhood  in  God  the  Son,  is 
in  the  highest  degree  hypocritical  and  dishonest 
(Ezek.  13:  1-23). 

Although  the  Thief  is  of  many  varieties,  as 
many  and  varied  as  our  treasures,  he  may  be 
divided  into  two  general  classes — that  which 
transgresses  the  law  in  the  letter,  and  that 
which  transgresses  it  in  the  spirit — the  disrepu- 
table and  criminal,  and  the  quasi  respectable  and 
speciously  honest  elements  of  society.  Of  the 
former  class — all  guilty  of  the  familiar  crimes 
of  larceny,  burglary,  robbery,  false  pretences, 
embezzlement,  forgery,  bribery,  adultery,  usury, . 
malicious  mischief,  disorderly  conduct,  con- 
spiracy, rioting,  assault,  arson,  rape,  voluntary 
or  involuntary  manslaughter,  slander,  or  any 
other  wileful  and  wilful  trangressions  of  the 
letter  of  the  law — it  is  not  necessary  to  write 
in  detail,  but  to  the  latter,  of  which  society  is 
little  conscious,  but  of  which  the  criminal 
classes  have  been  primarily  evolved,  we  should 
give  careful  study  and  reflection.  This  includes 


220  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

all  persons  whose  ruling  motive  is  selfishness, 
howbeit  they  may  be  strict  observers  of  the 
letter  of  the  law. 

Indeed  all  persons  to  the  degree  of  their  self- 
ishness are  dishonest,  neither  loving  God  nor 
their  neighbor,  and  not  unwilling  to  appropriate 
to  their  own  exclusive  use  what  justly  belongs 
to  others.  As  taught  in  the  gospel  of  the 
Christ,  the  law,  except  it  be  fulfilled  in  love,  is 
simply  a  system  of  bondage,  whereby  the  strong 
and  rich  are  enabled  to  oppress  the  weak  and 
the  poor  (Jas.  2 :  6-16),  or  the  dissipated  and 
needlessly  ignorant  or  indigent  become  burdens 
upon  the  intelligent,  thrifty,  and  temperate. 
To  be  selfishly  learned  or  illiterate,  rich  or  poor, 
temperate  or  intemperate,  religious  or  irreli- 
gious, is  thievery — indisposition  or  neglect  to 
pay  what  each  as  a  social  being  owes  to  God 
and  his  fellow-men. 

Selfishness  is  manifestly  directly  opposed  to 
love,  and  as  love  is  the  source  of  life,  selfishness 
is  inimical  thereto — limiting  and  wasting,  as  it 
does,  the  possessions  and  enjoyments  of  all  riches 
whereby  life  is  developed  and  distributed.  And 
as  for  one  to  deprive  another  of  the  opportunity 
of  acquiring  riches  is  equivalent  to  stealing 
them  from  him,  selfishness  is  thievery.  But 
love  itself  may  be  so  limited  and  perverted  as 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  THIEF.        221 

to  become  selfish.  Pure  love  is  a  sincere  de- 
sire to  promote  the  well-being  of  all  men, 
whether  friends  or  enemies  (Matt.  5 :  48-47). 
Hence,  to  love  those  who  only  love  us,  or  those 
only  of  our  own  family  or  class,  whether  rich 
or  poor,  employers  or  employees,  being  partial, 
is  selfish  and  thievish  in  spirit.  The  gospel 
teaches  that  the  Christ  died  for  all  men  (2  Cor. 
5 :  14,  15),  and  that,  while  all  were  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins,  he  came  that  we  might 
have  life,  and  might  have  it  more  abundantly 
(John  10  :  10),— not  as  the  thief  "  but  for  to 
steal,  to  kill,  and  to  destroy,"  not  as  the  princes 
of  this  world  to  exercise  temporal  dominion  in 
their  own  selfish  interests,  but  as  the  minister 
and  servant  of  men — even  "  to  give  his  life  as  a 
ransom  for  many "  (Matt.  20 :  25-28).  Such 
pure,  unselfish  love,  therefore,  being  Christ's 
motive,  it  is  manifestly  true  that  no  person  can 
have  a  true  and  saving  faith  in  him,  except  to 
the  degree  he  is  ruled  by  a  like  motive.  With- 
out it  there  is  in  fact  no  conception  or  practical 
experience  of  God's  grace — a  word  expressive 
of  pure  unselfishness,  of  such  gratitude  for  and 
responsiveness  to,  good  gifts,  and  such  appre- 
ciation of  privileges  and  opportunities  conferred 
upon  us,  as  impels  us  to  return  love  and  kind- 
ness for  love  and  kindness  shown  us,  and  to  im- 


222  THE   GATE   CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

prove  our  gifts,  opportunities,  and  privileges 
thus  conferred  by  striving  to  confer  like  gifts, 
opportunities,  and  privileges  upon  others  who 
need  them.  In  fact,  lack  of  Christian  grace  in 
any  member  of  the  Church — an  indisposition  to 
give  as  he  has  received — renders  him  a  hypo- 
crite and  thief;  for  there  is  no  worse  dishonesty 
and  thievery  in  spirit  than  ingratitude — the 
selfishly  appropriating  to  our  exclusive  use  that 
•which  has  been  bestowed  upon  us,  without 
making  any  return.  And  yet  this  sacred  and 
most  practical  word — grace — has  largely  be- 
come a  merely  professional  term  or  shibboleth 
or  fetich  in  the  churches — rolled  under  the 
tongue  as  a  sweet  morsel  by  priests  and  congre- 
gations besotted  in  worldliness,  superstition, 
and  pharisaical  self-righteousness,  and  regarded 
as  expressive  of  a  magical  infusion  of  holiness ! 
— thus  bedaubing  themselves  with  untempered 
mortar  (Ezek.  22 :  28). 

All  worldly  pride  and  vanity,  being  neces- 
sarily selfish  and  destitute  of  grace,  render  us 
thieves  in  spirit  (Ps.  101 :  5 ;  Prov.  6 :  17 ;  1 
John  2 :  16,  17) ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  envy 
(Prov.  3:  31;  14:  30;  1  Cor.  13:  4;  Jas.  4: 
5,  6).  Pride  and  envy,  the  one  despising  the 
poor,  and  the  other  hating  the  rich,  are  partners 
in  thievery,  persecuting  and  robbing  each  other. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   THE  THIEF.  223 

Hence  aristocratism,  pride  of  power  or  station, 
contemptuous  of  men  of  low  estate,  unsym- 
pathetic with  poverty  and  distress,  and  jealous 
and  repressive  of  all  efforts  or  aspirations  on  the 
part  of  the  masses  to  improve  their  social  con- 
ditions— as  also  democratism,  demagogy,  craftily 
pandering  to  popular  prejudices,  ignorances, 
superstitions,  and  vulgarities  in  order  to  pro- 
mote selfish  ends,  affecting  and  assuming  equal- 
ity with  superior  merit,  or  seeking  to  exalt  it- 
self by  disparaging  and  abasing  others — being 
in  spirit  persecuting,  is  unchristian  and  dishon- 
est (Prov.  21 :  4,  24  ;  Acts  7 :  9).  The  same  is 
true  of  flattery,  toadyism,  and  sycophancy 
(Job  32 :  21,  22 ;  Prov.  26  :  28 ;  Acts  12 :  22  ; 
Jas.  2 :  3),  the  motive  thereof  being  always 
selfish  and  mean.  So  also  covetousness  in  an 
evil  sense — a  desire  to  deprive  others  of  their 
rightful  possessions  and  privileges.  Hence,  if 
an  individual  or  class,  either  by  violence  or  by 
a  process  of  civil  law,  by  professional  beggary, 
by  extortionate  prices,  by  monopolies  of  labor 
or  capital,  by  borrowing  without  means  or  in- 
tention of  repayment,  by  pandering  to  worldly 
lust,  or  by  any  other  dishonest  stealth,  seeks  to 
persuade  or  compel  others  to  share  their  pos- 
sessions with  him,  he  is  in  spirit  and  in  fact  a 
thief,  seeking  to  reap  where  he  has  not  strewn, 


224       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

and  knowing  not  to  do  right  (Amos  3 :  10). 
But  it  is  not  covetous  in  a  true  sense  to  desire 
equal  opportunities  with  others  of  acquiring 
equal  possessions  with  them  (1  Cor.  12:  31); 
nor  is  it  trespass  for  anyone  to  seek  to  compel 
by  lawful  means  others  who  wilfully  withhold 
such  opportunities  to  share  them  with  him. 

In  short  all  iniquity — that  is,  inequity  or  en- 
forced inequality — is  robbery  (Prov.  11:  1 ;  22: 
22,  23;  Ezek.  18:  5-9,  25,  29-31;  Matt.  24: 
12;  Col.  4:  1);  also  false  witness,  which  in- 
cludes every  example  of  selfishness;  all  slander, 
avarice,  parsimony,  thriftlessness,  wilful  igno- 
rance, brutality,  cruelty,  or  other  social  inequity 
(Ps.  50  :  18-20  ;  62:  10;  Gal.  5:  15).  "If  one 
says  he  loves  God,  and  hateth  his  brother,  he  is 
a  liar  "  (1  John  4 :  20)  ;  and  every  selfish  per- 
son hates  his  brother  (1  John  3  :  17),  and  every 
liar  is  a  cheat  and  a  thief,  every  falsehood  being 
a  stealthy  device  to  promote  some  selfish  end 
(John  8 :  44).  And  as  everything  false  is  truth 
perverted  to  evil  purposes — all  evil  being  per- 
verted good, — and  as  the  unprecedented  ad- 
vancement of  the  present  age  in  the  increase  of 
wealth,  knowledge,  and  intelligence  is  accom- 
panied with  a  corresponding  increase  of  selfish- 
ness that  perverts  its  wealth,  knowledge,  intel- 
ligence to  evil  purposes — it  is  the  most  untruth- 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  THIEF.        225 

fill,  dishonest,  and  thievish  period  in  the  world's 
history.  Its  thieves,  endowed  as  they  are  with 
wonderful  intellectual  acumen  and  scientific 
skill,  surpass  any  that  ever  existed  before  in 
the  multitude  and  ingenuity  of  their  devices  of 
trickery,  fraud  and  robbery.  And  the  more 
educated,  refined,  respectable,  zealous  in  busi- 
ness, politics,  or  religion  they  make  themselves 
to  appear,  the  greater  are  their  opportunities  of 
deception  and  thievery.  In  fact  the  greatest 
thieves  have  come  to  be  regarded  as  the  most 
successful  men.  If  one  can,  as  many  do,  get 
his  living,  make  himself  rich,  or  secure  a  fat 
office  in  church  or  state,  by  fraud,  and  escape 
the  prison,  he  is  regarded  and  respected  as  a 
man  of  real  genius,  and  fawned  upon  by  a 
multitude  of  flatterers,  toadies,  and  sycophants. 
Why  should  he  not  be  when  the  worship  of 
mammon  has  become  an  all-absorbing  passion  ? 
Except  an  honest  man  flee,  as  did  the  proph- 
ets of  old,  into  the  wilderness  to  escape  perse- 
cution (Jer.  9:  1-6),  he  can  hardly  avoid  falling 
into  the  hands  of  thieves  and  robbers;  and 
though  we  fancy  that,  had  we  lived  in  the  days 
of  our  fathers,  we  would  riot  have  been  guilty 
of  their  brutalities  (Matt.  23 :  30),  no  age  has 
been  guilty  of  so  great  refinements  of  cruelty 
as  this.  Vast  multitudes  are  enslaved,  tortured 


THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

and  murdered  by  our  heartless  greed  of  money 
— most  of  which  is  of  sweat  and  blood  wrung 
from  the  poor  by  compelling  them  to  devote 
their  whole  strength  and  life  to  ceaseless  toil, 
not  only  to  obtain  scant  food  and  clothing,  but 
also  to  support  the  rich  in  extravagance,  luxury, 
and  ease — crowded  into  miserable  tenements  and 
hovels  to  die  of  cold,  filth,  disease,  and  star- 
vation, that  others  may  dwell  in  palaces.  And 
even  the  great  multitudes  of  the  middle  classes, 
regarded  as  comparatively  happy,  are  plun- 
dered and  robbed  without  mercy — almost  every 
breath  of  air  and  draught  of  water  being 
poisoned  by  the  germs  of  disease  evolved  and 
developed  of  the  filthy  and  unnatural  con- 
ditions and  necessities  of  our  social  and  busi- 
ness life, — cheated  by  adulterated  foods  and 
drinks,  shoddy  clothing,  and  almost  every  other 
article  of  necessity  and  comfort  debased  by  mo- 
nopolies in  trade  and  manufacture  for  purposes 
of  increase  and  exorbitant  profits ;  also  by  op- 
pressive taxation  through  political  thievery,  and 
even  in  free-will  offerings  for  wasted  charities 
and  worse  than  useless  rites  and  ceremonials  of 
worship. 

Nevertheless,  as  it  is  always  darkest  just  be- 
fore dawn,  we  may  believe  that  these  great  ex- 
cesses of  thievery — resulting,  as  they  have,  from 


THE  PROBLEM  OP  THE  THIEF.        227 

our  great  increase  of  wealth  and  knowledge 
largely  perverted  to  selfish  ends — are  the  im- 
mediate precursors  of  a  great  reformation. 
Through  the  discipline  of  its  great  sufferings 
society  is  rapidly  coming  to  the  consciousness 
of  its  own  selfishness  and  inequity  and  to  a 
willingness  to  submit  to  that  higher  discipline 
required  for  the  culture  and  increase  of  Chris- 
tian faith,  hope,  and  charity,  whereby  all  social 
injustice  and  oppression  will  be  removed — when 
inequity  will  no  longer  be  drawn  "  with  cords 
of  vanity,  and  sin  as  it  were  with  a  cart  rope," 
when  evil  will  no  longer  be  called  good,  and 
good  evil ;  nor  darkness  be  put  for  light,  and 
light  for  darkness;  nor  bitter  for  sweet,  and 
sweet  for  bitter  (Isa.  5 :  18-20)  ;  when  the  gos- 
pel of  glad  tidings  will  be  preached  to  the  poor, 
liberty  be  proclaimed  to  the  captive,  and  the 
prison  door  opened  to  them  that  are  bound 
(Isa.  61 :  1). 


BOOK  FOURTH. 


APPLIED   CHRISTIANITY. 


41  And  Peter,  fastening  his  eyes  upon  him  with  John,  said, 
4  Look  on  us. '  And  he  gave  heed  unto  them,  expecting  to  re- 
ceive something  from  them.  Then  Peter  said,  '  Silver  and  gold 
have  I  none,  but  such  as  I  have  give  I  thee.  In  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth,  rise  up  and  walk.1  And  he  lifted 
him  up.  And  immediately  his  feet  and  ankle  bones  received 
strength,  and  he,  leaping  up,  stood  and  walked,  and  entered 
with  them  into  the  temple,  walking  and  leaping  and  praising 
God."— Acts  3:  4-8. 


PROLOGUE. 

PARADOX,  PARABLE,  AND   MIRACLE. 

A  PARADOX  is  a  tenet,  proposition,  illustra- 
tion, or  teaching  which  is  true,  but  appears  to 
the  untruthful  to  be  false ;  is  wise,  but  appears  to 
the  unwise  as  foolish  and  absurd ;  is  in  harmony 
with  divine  life  and  order,  but  to  the  disobe- 
dient appears  in  conflict  therewith  ;  is  practical, 
but  to  those  who  have  no  faith  in,  or  sympathy 
with,  the  truth  it  teaches,  appears  impractical, 
inexpedient,  or  even  fanatical. 

Naturally  we  judge  by  appearances,  and,  if 
we  were  what  we  should  be,  appearances  would 
always  represent  what  is  true, — that  is,  truth 
would  always  appear  to  be  truth — and  a  para- 
dox would  be  to  us  a  plain  statement  of  truth ; 
but  to  the  degree  our  nature  and  art  are  per- 
verted our  senses  are  correspondingly  per- 
verted, and  we  call  what  is  true  false,  and  what 
is  false  true  (Isa.  5:  20).  True  religion,  there- 
fore, is  to  false  religion  or  irreligion  paradox- 
ical ;  and  if  Christianity  be  the  true  religion  its 
teachings  must  necessarily  appear  to  a  sinful 

231 


232  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

world,  so  far  as  such  teachings  are  not  believed 
in,  as  contradictory  and  absurd.  To  the  unbe- 
liever even  the  Christ  himself  is  a  paradox — a 
man,  yet  making  himself  God  (John  10 :  33)  ; 
the  Son  of  Man,  yet  also  the  Son  of  God  (Matt. 
8:  20;  27:  43);  living  only  a  brief  earthly 
life,  yet  in  the  beginning  with  God  (John  1 : 
1,  2 ;  8 :  58) ;  tempted  in  all  things  like  as  we 
are,  yet  without  sin(Heb.  4  :  15)  ;  our  Master, 
yet  our  servant  (Matt.  23 :  10 ;  Phil.  2:7); 
the  Lord  our  Righteousness,  yet  a  friend  of 
publicans  and  sinners  (Jer.  23 :  6 ;  Luke  7 : 
34) ;  the  promised  Messiah  and  King  of  Glory 
(Ps.  24:  10;  Dan.  9  :  25),  yet  born  in  a  stable, 
cradled  in  a  manger,  and  crucified  as  a  male- 
factor (Luke  2 :  7 ;  23 :  33) ;  saving  others,  yet 
not  able  to  save  himself  (Mark  15 :  31) ;  leav- 
ing his  disciples  alone,  yet  with  them  always 
unto  the  end  of  the  world  (Matt.  28:  20); 
dead,  yet  alive  forevermore  (Rev.  1 :  18). 

Although  his  avowed  mission  was  not  to  de- 
stroy'but  to  fulfill  the  law  (Matt.  5:  17),  he 
yet  forbade  his  disciples  to  enforce  it  among 
themselves,  or  even  to  resist  any  transgressions 
of  their  rights  (Matt.  38 :  39).  Heralded  as  the 
Prince  of  Peace  (Isa.  9 :  6),  he  yet  declared 
that  he  came  not  to  send  peace  on  the  earth, 
but  a  sword  (Matt.  10:  34,  36). 


PARADOX,   PARABLE,   AND   MIRACLE.  233 

So  also,  to  all  who  judge  by  appearances,  and 
not  by  righteous  judgment,  and  who  walk  by 
sight  rather  than  by  faith, — that  is,  who  inter- 
pret by  the  letter,  and  not  by  the  spirit — most 
principles  and  precepts  of  his  gospel  seem  con- 
tradictory, absurd,  and  impractical, — as  that 
we  receive  as  we  give  (Matt.  19  :  21 ;  Luke  6  : 
38) ;  what  we  lose  we  gain,  and  what  we  gain 
we  lose  (Matt.  16 :  25) ;  are  wise  in  our  foolish- 
ness, and  foolish  in  our  wisdom  (11 :  25 ;  1  Cor. 
1 :  19,  20,  21) ;  made  blind  by  what  we  see 
(John  9 :  39),  and  deaf  by  what  we  hear  (Matt. 
13:  13);  unrighteous  by  our  righteousness 
(Matt.  23:  28;  Luke  18:  13,  14),  enslaved  by 
our  freedom  (John  8:  32-36;  2  Pet.  2:  19); 
happy  through  persecution  and  suffering  (Matt. 
5:11;  1  Pet.  3 :  14) ;  strong  through  our 
weakness  (Joel  3:  10;  2  Cor.  12:  9);  glorified 
through  our  infirmities  (John  12 :  23 ;  2  Cor. 
11 :  30) ;  religious  through  our  irreligion  (Matt. 
23 :  2-10 ;  Acts  17 ;  22) ;  orthodox  through  our 
heresies  (Acts  24:  14);  rich  through  our  pov- 
erty; comforted  through  our  sorrows;  ennobled 
and  exalted  through  our  humility  and  meek- 
ness; filled  through  hungerings  and  thirstings 
(Matt.  5 :  2-8) ;  masters  through  servitude 
(Matt.  20:  27);  must  be  born  again — as  if  we 
could  enter  a  second  time  into  our  mother's 


234       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

womb  and  be  born  (John  3:  3-5);  and  except 
we  eat  of  his  flesh  and  drink  of  his  blood  we 
have  no  life — as  if  he  could  give  us  his  flesh  to 
eat  (John  6 :  52,  53). 

When  he  said  to  the  unbelieving  Jews,  "  Be- 
cause I  tell  you  the  truth  ye  believe  me  not," 
he  uttered  a  truth  which  seemed  to  them  ab- 
surd, so  blinded  were  they  by  their  bigotry  and 
self-righteousness.  Truth  to  their  prejudiced 
conscience  appeared  to  be  false  and  vicious,  and 
for  this  reason,  that  as  prejudice  is  ignorance 
through  a  selfish  indisposition  to  know  and  do 
what  is  right,  and  as  all  ideas  and  objects  to  a 
heart  and  mind  thus  perverted  are  correspond- 
ingly perverted,  truth  is  rejected  because  it  is 
the  truth  (John  8:  45).  In  this  way  our  nat- 
ural conscience,  or  love  of  what  is  right,  be- 
comes unnatural  and  love  of  what  is  unright- 
eous, so  that  when  we  think  we  hear  and  see 
the  truth  we  are  deaf  and  blind  thereto  ;  think 
we  are  orthodox,  are  heretics ;  sincere,  are  hypo- 
crites ;  clean,  are  full  of  extortion  and  excess ; 
honest,  are  thieves ;  charitable,  are  mean  and 
miserly ;  worshippers  of  God,  are  idolaters ; 
virtuous,  are  adulterers ;  love  God  and  our 
neighbor,  disobey  the  one,  and  oppress  the 
other ;  rich  and  happy,  yet  in  fact  poor  and 
miserable ;  saved,  are  lost ;  liberal,  are  churls ; 


PARADOX,   PARABLE,   AND   MIRACLE.  235 

patriotic  citizens,  enemies  of  good  government; 
practical,  are  vainly  fighting  against  God  and 
our  own  best  interests. 

Whatever  teaches  the  truth  is  true,  whether 
it  be  history,  paradox,  parable,  or  miracle — 
though,  if  interpreted  only  in  the  letter,  it  may 
be,  and  practically  is,  untrue.  Indeed  every- 
thing is  untrue  if  interpreted  in  the  letter  only; 
for  it  is  the  letter  that  killeth  and  the  spirit 
only  that  giveth  life  (John  6:  63;  2  Cor.  3: 
6).  Thus  if  we  interpret  eating  to  be  only  the 
masticating  and  swallowing  of  food,  then  are 
Christ's  words,  "  He  that  eateth  me,  even  he 
shall  live  by  me,"  a  hard  saying,  absurd  and  of- 
fensive ;  but  if  we  mean  the  medium  and  source 
of  life — which  is  the  true  idea  of  eating — then 
are  they  true,  the  body  of  Christ  being  in  fact 
the  medium  and  source  of  our  spiritual  life, 
and  the  eating  thereof  the  partaking  of  that 
life.  So,  too,  when  he  said,  "  Before  Abraham 
was  I  am,"  he  uttered  an  untruth,  if  our  idea 
of  existence  be  limited  to  the  duration  of  our 
brief  earthly  life — for  he  was  not  yet  fifty  years 
old ;  but  as  an  assertion  of  his  original  and 
eternal  sonship  in  God  the  Father,  from  whom 
all  true  and  real  sonship  in  the  spirit  is  derived, 
this  declaration  was  strictly  true  (John  8 :  56- 
58). 


236       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

The  highest  refinements  of  conscience,  rea- 
son, and  emotion  cannot  be  expressed  in  the 
unrefined  speech  of  men  who  judge  by  appear- 
ances— superficially,  by  things  as  they  seem  to 
their  unrefined  nature,  and  not  by  things  as 
they  really  are.  Hence  to  such  men  spiritual 
truths — and  by  spiritual  truths  we  mean  orig- 
inal and  practical  principles,  those  which  are 
theoretically  true,  and  may  and  should  be  put 
in  practice — must  be  taught  chiefly  by  paradox, 
parable,  and  miracle  in  which  they  are  shad- 
owed forth — things  unseen  by  things  seen — 
howbeit,  when  we  no  longer  see  through  a  glass 
darkly,  they  may  be  discerned  face  to  face 
(John  16:  25;  1  Cor.  13:  12).  Indeed  it  is 
impossible  that  the  Christ  should  have  taught 
his  truths  in  any  other  way  to  persons  whose 
natural  sympathies  and  instincts  of  conscience 
were  corrupted  and  perverted  by  sin  and  self- 
ishness (Isa.  6 :  9,  10 ;  Matt.  4  :  11,  12).  All 
merely  literal  interpreters  of  scripture  are  those 
who  having  eyes  to  see  see  not,  and  having 
ears  to  hear  hear  not ;  and  even  though  they 
think  they  believe  its  paradoxes,  parables,  and 
miracles,  they  are  really  blind  and  deaf  to 
them,  not  being  able  to  discern  spiritually,  or 
practically  apply,  the  truths  they  are  designed 
to  teach.  Hence  in  interpreting  to  his  disciples 


PARADOX,   PARABLE,   AND   MIRACLE.  237 

the  parable  of  the  Sower,  the  Christ  said, 
"  Unto  you  " — that  is,  unto  those  who  were  in 
sympathy  with  his  spirit,  and  were  willing  to 
put  his  precepts  in  practice — "  it  is  given  to 
know  the  mysteries  of  the  Kingdom  of  God " 
— that  is,  the  social  polity,  unity,  boundless 
life,  and  unselfish  love  thereof — "  but  to  others 
in  parables."  Not,  however,  that  he  did  not 
wish  others  to  understand,  for  he  sought  to 
save  all  men,  but  that, — in  the  same  sense  in 
which  God  is  said  to  have  hardened  Pharaoh's 
heart  by  giving  the  opportunity  of  repentance, 
which  Pharaoh  rejected, — they  were  so  selfish 
they  rejected  the  truths  taught  in  his  parables 
because  they  were  truths. 

It  is  of  course  necessary  to  our  salvation  that 
spiritual  truths  should  be  illustrated  and 
taught,  yet  if  rejected  through  our  selfish 
aversion  thereto,  and  regarded  as  impractical, 
our  hearts  are  thereby  hardened,  and  we  are 
made  spiritually  blind  and  deaf. 

Doubtless  there  are  many  who  profess  to  be- 
lieve, and  in  a  literal  and  historic  sense  do  be- 
lieve, in  this  plain  and  practical  parable  of  the 
Sower, — for  it  is  not  at  all  incredible  that  a 
sower  should  have  gone  forth  to  sow, — but  they 
are  so  devoted  to  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the 
devil,  and  so  blinded  thereby,  that  they  cannot 


238  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

discern  its  practical  teachings  or  apply  them  to 
their  own  salvation.  Not  realizing  that  it  is 
the  devil  of  selfishness  in  their  own  hearts  that 
catches  away  and  devours  the  good  seed ;  that 
there  is  such  lack  of  the  moisture  of  human 
sympathy  and  of  the  Christian  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice  for  the  salvation  of  others  that  the 
love  of  God  and  their  neighbor  can  find  no 
root  therein ;  and  however  otherwise  good  and 
kind,  the  cares  of  this  world  and  the  deceitful- 
ness  of  riches  so  choke  the  word  that  it  can 
bring  no  fruit  to  perfection.  While  in  theory 
they  may  believe  in  the  Christian  religion,  and 
become  even  zealous  church  members,  their 
zeal  is  not  according  to  knowledge ;  and 
through  selfishness  or  the  stress  of  physical 
necessities  such  as  every  poor  clergyman  is  sub- 
jected to,  they  are  either  unwilling  or  unable 
to  apply  practically  the  faith  they  profess  to 
the  just  and  equitable  adjustment  of  social  in- 
terests and  relations. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  parable  of  the  Prod- 
igal Son — the  rich  and  extravagant  not  realiz- 
ing that  they  are  spending  their  substance  in 
riotous  living,  nor  the  profligate  poor  that  they 
are  tending  swine  and  feeding  on  husks.  So 
also  the  parables  of  the  Talents  and  of  the  Un- 
just Steward  are  riddles  to  the  miserly  rich  and 


PARADOX,   PARABLE,   AND   MIRACLE.  239 

the  thriftless  poor — the  one  laying  up  his  treas- 
ures in  a  napkin,  wherein  there  can  be  no  in- 
crease that  can  benefit  himself  or  others ;  and 
the  other,  however  otherwise  honest  he  may 
be,  less  wise,  prudent,  and  enterprising  than 
those  who  by  dishonest  means  seek  to  promote 
their  selfish  interests,  not  realizing  that  the  un- 
righteous mammon  may  be  converted  to  right- 
eousness, become  the  friend  of  the  poor,  and 
made  to  promote  our  spiritual  interests. 

In  like  manner,  what  is  true  of  a  merely 
literal  interpretation  of  parables  is  true  also  of 
a  like  interpretation  of  miracles, — many  re- 
garding them  as  signs  and  wonders  (John  4 : 
48),  as  magic  rather  than  miracle,  and  designed 
to  inspire  superstitious  awe  rather  than  to 
teach  practical  truths.  There  are  no  magic 
arts,  no  sorceries,  no  juggleries  in  God's  works, 
though  all  are  miracles  so  far  as  they  surpass 
our  finite  comprehensions  and  powers.  Nor  is 
God  or  his  works  ever  supernatural — there  be- 
ing no  such  word  in  his  books  of  inspiration — 
but  always  natural,  howbeit  the  natural  and 
spiritual  differ  from  each  other  only  as  divine 
nature  and  art.  None  of  the  mighty  works 
wrought  by  the  Christ,  his  prophets,  or  apostles 
were  unnatural,  or  contrary  to  eternal  and 
fixed  principles  of  law  and  order;  nor  where 


240        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

any  of  them  wrought  to  show  us  what  he  can 
do,  but  what  we  can  do  by  his  help  ;  and  to  the 
degree  of  our  faith  in  and  obedience  to  such 
eternal  and  fixed  principles  are  all  things  possi- 
ble to  us  (Mark  3  :  15  ;  9  :  23  ;  Luke  10  :  19). 
Like  paradoxes  and  parables  all  miracles  are 
true  that  teach  the  truth  ;  and  though,  because 
of  our  ignorance  or  perversion  of  God's  truth, 
and  because  we  walk  by  sight  rather  than  by 
faith,  they  seem  contrary  to  nature,  they  are  in 
fact  wholly  in  accordance  therewith.  Thus, 
while  we  are  fighting  the  battles  of  life,  and 
striving  for  victory  over  our  enemies,  the  sun 
really  stands  still  (Josh.  10 :  12,  13) — nay,  by 
its  apparent  motions,  whereby  our  lives  are 
measured  for  days  and  years,  it  is  really  wait- 
ing for  us  to  accomplish  the  missions  God  has 
sent  us  into  the  world  to  accomplish  ;  even  its 
shadow  made  to  go  back  on  the  dial  (2  Kings 
20  :  8-11),  when  we  repent  us  of  our  sin  and 
selfishness,  and  would  reform  our  lives.  So 
also  in  fact  are  we  born  again  in  spirit,  when 
we  put  away  selfishness  and  are  willing  to  deny 
ourselves,  take  up  our  cross,  and  really  follow 
the  Christ  in  spirit  and  in  truth  (Matt.  10 :  38, 
39 ;  John  3  :  7,  8) ;  the  water  is  turned  to  the 
new  wine  of  life  (John  2 :  9) ;  the  chains 
stricken  from  our  limbs,  and  the  iron  gate  made 


PARADOX,   PARABLE,   AND   MIRACLE.  241 

to  open  of  itself  (Acts  12 :  6,  10)  ;  cloven 
tongues  of  fire  to  descend  upon  us  (Acts  2  : 
3) ;  and  in  short  all  things  to  become  possible 
and  practicable — every  disease  and  infirmity 
healed,  every  social  wrong  righted,  and  every 
social  problem  solved,  if  we  really  believe  and 
put  in  practice  the  gospel  of  the  Christ.  Thus, 
if  we  have  the  faith  of  Peter  and  John,  there 
is  no  doubt  at  all  that  we  can  take  every  poor 
cripple  by  the  hand  whom  we  can  inspire  with 
a  like  faith,  lift  him  up,  set  him  on  his  feet,  and 
lead  him  in  at  the  Beautiful  Gate,  walking, 
leaping,  and  praising  God. 

But  no  miracles  can  be  wrought  through  the 
spirit  of  repentance  for  the  remission  of  sins, 
no  valley  filled,  no  mountain  or  hill  brought 
low,  and  no  crooked  path  or  rough  way  be 
made  straight  or  smooth,  except  we  be  inspired 
with  such  a  spirit,  and  capable  of  comprehend- 
ing and  practically  realizing  its  purpose.  As 
defined  by  the  great  Forerunner  of  our  Lord, 
this  spirit  is  filial  and  brotherly  kindness,  and 
its  purpose  social  reform  (Luke  3 :  11-14).  No 
person  can  be  counted  a  repentant  sinner,  or 
come  near  to  the  Kingdom  of  God,  if  having 
two  coats  he  is  unwilling  to  impart  to  him  that 
hath  none,  or  having  meat  is  unwilling  to  do 
likewise,  exacts  more  than  is  justly  his  due, 


242  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

injures  others  by  violence  or  falsehood,  or  is 
not  content  with  what  he  earns.  Nor  can  he 
without  hypocrisy  utter  the  Lord's  Prayer — 
say  in  sincerity,  "  Our  Father,"  or  "  Forgive  us 
our  debts,"  except  he  show  his  faith  by  his 
works  for  the  practical  recognition  of  the  uni- 
versal Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brotherhood 
of  Man. 


PART  I. 

APPLIED  FAITH. 

"Now  faith  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped 
for,  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen  "  (Heb.  11 : 
1,  3).  That  is,  as  in  God  the  Substance  is 
the  ultimate  and  unseen  element  of  his  Being, 
from  which  all  substantives — that  is,  things 
seen, — are  derived,  and  whereby  all  principles 
comprehended  in  divine  Nature  and  Art  are 
made  manifest  in  outward  and  visible  things, 
so  is  Christian  faith  the  substance,  that  is,  the 
ultimate  element  or  principle  of  the  invisible 
Kingdom  of  God,  whereby  the  substantive,  out- 
ward, and  visible  Kingdom  or  Church  of  Christ 
in  the  world  is  made  to  appear,  all  its  hopes 
and  promises  inspired,  and  all  its  charities  prac- 
tically applied  and  realized  in  our  social  life. 
It  is,  therefore,  both  theoretical  and  practical 
— the  assurance  subjectively  of  the  reality  of 
things  hoped  for,  and  the  proving  objectively 
that  such  unseen  realities  may  be  outwardly 
experienced.  And  if,  as  we  believe,  this  faith 
is  the  fundamental  element  of  true  religion,  of 
the  bond  of  unity  between  God  and  Man,  it  is 

243 


244  THT   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

the  ideal  conception  of  what  our  social  relations 
should  be,  and  the  assurance  that  we  may  live 
together  in  this  world  in  obedience  to  God, 
and  in  peace  and  good  will  toward  each  other. 
Practically  applied,  it  is  our  effort  to  articulate 
this  ideal  conception  in  our  outward  and  visible 
social  life  by  the  reformation  and  improvement 
of  society;  and  the  first  step  therein  is  the 
establishment  of  a  social  institution  called  the 
Church — a  society,  congregation,  or  school, 
organized  to  illustrate,  teach,  and  practice  the 
principles  of  the  gosp«l  of  the  Christ.  As 
originally  constituted,  it  represented  a  social 
compact  in  which  each  member  was  pledged  to 
love  God  with  all  his  heart,  mind,  and  soul,  and 
his  neighbor  as  himself — which  pledge  was  a 
practical  recognition  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God 
and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man.  With  this  idea, 
and  this  only,  is  it  possible  rightly  to  apply  the 
Christian  Faith.  In  such  compact,  and  such 
only,  can  our  ultimate  salvation  be  realized ; 
for  manifestly  the  unseen  Kingdom  and  House- 
hold of  God  which  the  true  Church  represents 
— that  is,  is  its  evidence  and  proving — must  be 
a  community  in  which  the  well-being  of  its 
members  is  perfected  through  their  love  of  God 
and  each  other  (Matt.  5 :  45 ;  Luke  10 :  25-28; 
Gal.  5:  14,15;  Jas.  2:  8,  9). 


APPLIED    FAITH.  245 

As  now  applied,  however,  the  original  and 
true  idea  of  faith  is  much  obscured  in  the  con- 
gregation of  the  Church,  it  being  largely  per- 
verted and  limited  to  a  belief  in  merely  specu- 
lative and  sectarian  dogmas  or  articles  of  faith, 
so  called,  more  fanciful  than  real  or  practical, 
and  whether  speculatively  true  or  false,  not 
essential  to  our  social  well-being — so  that  if  the 
whole  nation,  or  all  nations,  were  included  in 
such  congregations,  the  Church  would  be  very 
far  from  representing  a  community  of  Christian 
brethren — would  "have  the  faith  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  respect  of  persons"  (Jas.  2:  1). 
Any  faith,  however  true,  is  merely  speculative, 
which  is  not  practically  applied,  or  is  misap- 
plied; and  any  church  is  sectarian,  however 
true  in  the  letter,  that  is  not  true  also  in  spirit 
to  the  principles  of  the  gospel.  While  the 
spirit  and  purpose  of  the  Christ  were  to  bring 
all  men  into  his  one  Kingdom,  so  that  there 
should  be  but  one  Fold  and  one  Shepherd,  his 
Church  on  earth,  which  claims  to  represent 
that  Kingdom,  is  divided  into  many  and  mu- 
tually exclusive  folds,  presided  over  by  many 
shepherds,  and  representing  many  and  diverse 
faiths — practically  anti-christian  in  spirit  and 
purpose  (Mark  13 :  21,  22). 

The  first  requisite,  therefore,  to  the  practical 


246  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

application  of  the  faith  we  profess  is  that  it 
should  itself  be  conformed  with  the  original 
faith.  Being  corrupted,  it  must  be  transformed 
by  the  renewing  of  its  mind,  that  it  may  prove 
what  is  the  good,  acceptable,  and  perfect  will  of 
God  (Rom.  12:  2);  for  otherwise — except  it 
realize  in'  its  own  congregations  its  social  ideal 
— it  is  conformed  to  the  world,  and  it  is  impos- 
sible that  it  should  be  applied  to  the  world's  re- 
demption. 

To  this  end  the  congregations  of  the  Church 
must  be  reformed  and  transformed  into  one 
Body  in  Christ,  and  become  severally  members 
one  of  another  (5).  Its  faith  must  become  such 
as  leads  each  member  to  cherish  as  his  own  the 
well-being  of  his  fellow-members,  for  otherwise 
it  cannot  be  or  represent  the  Family  of  God. 
All  members  must  strive  to  attain  the  best 
gifts,  privileges,  and  personal  endowments  (1 
Cor.  12 :  31),  and  share  the  benefits  thereof 
equally — that  is  justly — with  each  other  as  each 
has  need  (Deut.  15  :  7-11 ;  1  Cor.  12 :  4-31 ;  1 
John  3 :  17).  Otherwise  we  are  Christians 
only  in  name  (Prov.  30  :  8,  9 ;  Jas.  2:7,  8, 
9),  our  spirit  selfish  and  worldly,  our  worship 
,  idolatrous  and  adulterous  (Ezek.  23 :  37 ;  Col. 
3 :  5),  and  our  promises  vain  and  delusive 
(Matt.  19 :  24  ;  Jas.  1 :  27). 


APPLIED    FAITH.  247 

Now  as  Peter  and  John  were  members  of  the 
original  Church,  and  had  been  immediate  dis- 
ciples and  followers  of  the  Christ,  they  no 
doubt  clearly  understood  his  philosophy,  and  in 
spirit  and  purpose  were  in  full  sympathy  with 
him.  Having  listened  to  his  teachings  and  wit- 
nessed his  works — all  of  which  were  for  the  im- 
provement of  our  social  condition,  healing  the 
sick  and  preaching  the  Kingdom  of  God  (Luke 
9  :  2) — they  not  only  believed  them  to  be  true, 
but  embraced  every  opportunity  to  illustrate 
and  apply  them  to  the  solution  of  social  prob- 
lems. Why  should  not  we,  who  profess  the 
same  faith,  work  the  same  works?  If  the 
gospel  was  true  and  practical  in  their  day,  it 
certainly  must  be  now  in  our  age  of  unprec- 
edented enlightenment,  in  which  the  most 
powerful  nations  of  the  earth  have,  theoretic- 
ally at  least,  accepted  its  principles  as  the  true 
religious  faith.  Although  the  evil  spirits  of 
bigotry,  intolerance,  and  superstition  still  linger 
in  the  churches,  and  they  are  otherwise  greatly 
corrupted  by  cupidity  and  worldliness,  yet  no 
person  can  doubt,  who  discerns  and  rightly  in- 
terprets the  signs  of  the  times,  that  the  fullness 
of  time  has  come  for  the  practical  reformation 
of  the  faith  we  profess  in  its  restoration  to  its 
original  singleness  of  purpose,  and  its  applica- 


248  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

tion  to  the  right  solution  of  all  social  problems. 
As  "  unto  the  pure,  all  things  are  pure,  but 
unto  them  who  are  defiled  and  unbelieving 
is  nothing  pure,"  so  to  the  practical  all  things 
are  practical  that  are  just  and  equitable ;  and 
if  any  persons  claiming  to  be  Christians  do  not 
believe  the  practical  application  of  the  gospel 
to  be  practicable,  "  they  profess  that  they  know- 
God,  but  in  works  they  deny  him,  being  abom- 
inable, disobedient,  and  to  every  good  work 
reprobate "  (Titus  1 :  15,  16).  Of  course  a 
selfishly  rich  man,  or  an  envious  poor  man,  or 
any  other  willful  moth,  rust,  or  thief,  except  he 
repent  and  bring  forth  works  meet  for  repent- 
ance, will  not  regard  the  practical  application 
of  the  gospel  as  practicable — interpreting 
"  practical "  to  mean  only  such  enterprises  as 
promote  his  selfish  and  worldly  interests  and 
desires.  But  no  man  who  believes  he  can  re- 
pent, and  does  repent,  will  doubt  that  others 
may  also.  In  fact,  this  is  the  real  test  of  the 
genuineness  of  our  faith — whether  we  so  be- 
lieve that  we  are  willing  to  put  it  in  practice ; 
for  if  one  professes  to  believe  and  is  yet  unwill- 
ing to  practice,  he  is  practically  a  hypocrite. 

But  what  is  practical  is  not  always  expedient 
— never  is  expedient  in  fact  except  to  the  de- 
gree we  believe  it  to  be  practicable.  That  is,  it 


APPLIED    FAITH.  249 

is  not  expedient  to  attempt  to  put  in  practice 
any  truth  except  to  the  degree  it  has  been 
heralded,  taught,  and  accepted  as  truth — al- 
though the  true  prophet  will  himself  strive  to 
practice  what  he  preaches.  Thus  the  Christ 
did  not  appear  until  the  fullness  of  time  had 
come — till  his  coming  had  been  heralded,  his 
way  prepared  (Matt.  11 :  10  ;  Luke  3  :  4,  5 ; 
Gal.  4  :  4,  5).  A  child  must  be  fed  with  milk, 
and  not  with  meat,  till  it  is  able  to  bear  it  (1 
Cor.  3 :  2).  Only  so  far  as  the  spirit  of  truth 
rules  our  hearts  can  we  know  or  hear  the  truth, 
(John  16:  12,  13).  "All  things,"  says  St. 
Paul,  "are  lawful  unto  me,  but  all  things  are 
not  expedient  "  (1  Cor.  6  :  12).  Hence,  while 
community  in  unity  is  always  practicable  to 
truly  Christian  men,  it  is  never  expedient  or 
possible  to  practice  it  in  a  congregation  of  sel- 
fish and  world-minded  people  (1  Cor.  6 :  15) — 
such  congregation  not  being  really  Christian. 
But  if  the  congregation  be  sincerely  striving  to 
know  and  represent  the  true  Church,  however 
otherwise  imperfect,  it  is  always  both  practic- 
able and  expedient. 

Now  it  being  manifestly  impossible  that  there 
should  be  community  without  unity — mutual 
love  and  helpfulness  while  there  are  divisions 
among  us  (1  Cor.  10 :  13), — the  original  church 


250        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

to  which  Peter  and  John  belonged  must  have 
represented  community  in  unity — "  one  Lord, 
one  faith,  one  baptism,  One  God  and  Father  of 
all,  who  is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and  in 
you  all  "  (Eph.  4 :  2-6).  Otherwise  it  could  not 
have  represented  the  Christ  who  was  himself 
the  Church  (Eph.  3 :  10;  5:  30;  Col.  1 :  24)- 
the  true  "  Vine,"  of  which  his  Father  was  the 
husbandman,  and  all  true  disciples  the  branches 
(John  15:  1-5) — the  community  in  unity  of 
God  with  Man,  and  of  men  with  men. 

Moreover,  as  the  Kingdom  of  God  cometh 
not  by  observation, — that  is,  not  primarily  by 
erecting  a  building  and  gathering  a  congrega- 
tion, and  saying,  lo !  here  is  the  Church,  but  by 
the  development  of  faith  within  us, — it  is  plain 
that  community  in  unity  does  not  consist  in 
statutes  and  ordinances  of  man's  appointment 
(Eph.  2:  15,  16;  Col.  2:  14,  20;  Heb.  9:  10), 
but  in  voluntary  and  inward  conformity  in 
spirit  with  the  teachings  and  example  of  the 
Christ,  whereby  like  our  Master  we  fulfill  the 
will  of  God  outwardly  in  the  world  (Matt.  10 : 
25;  Heb.  10:  7).  In  fact  the  gospel,  so  far  as 
it  is  believed  in  and  put  in  practice,  is  itself  the 
abolition  of  all  statutes  and  ordinances,  and 
confers  upon  every  true  member  of  God's 
Household  unlimited  freedom  of  thought  and 


APPLIED    FAITH.  251 

action.  It  is  wholly  of  love,  and  not  at  all  of 
law,  though  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law, 
and  in  perfect  love  is  perfect  obedience.  So  far 
then,  and  only  so  far,  as  we  can  live  together 
without  law,  loving  God  and  each  other,  are  we 
possessed  of  a  true  faith  in  Christ,  and  mem- 
bers of  his  Church,  or  is  there  any  unity  and 
community  in  faith.  Nay,  so  long  as  they  teach 
for  doctrines  the  commandments  of  men  (Isa. 
29 :  13 ;  Ezek.  33 :  31,  32 ;  Matt.  15  :  8,  9),  it  is 
but  hypocrisy,  a  mere  pretence  of  being  breth- 
ren, for  differing  sects  to  hold  union  meetings, 
sit  at  each  other's  tables,  break  the  same  bread 
and  drink  the  same  cup, — merely  drawing  near 
to  God  and  each  other  with  their  mouths,  and 
honoring  him  with  their  lips,  while  their  hearts 
are  far  from  him.  Hence,  if  we  would  have  a 
true  and  practical  unity,  and  would  rightly  ap- 
ply it  to  the  reformation  of  the  Church,  all 
compulsory  creeds  and  articles  of  faith  of  man's 
appointment,  whereby  professing  Christians  are 
divided  into  narrow  and  opposing  sects,  must 
be  abolished.  In  fact,  so  long  as  any  congre- 
gation is  under  ecclesiastical  statutes  and  ordi- 
nances, it  is  not  a  church  of  Christ,  but  is  still 
under  the  law,  and  at  best  only  a  Jewish  syna- 
gogue. 

The  only  essential  requisite  to  baptism  is  a 


252  THE   GATE   CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

sincere  desire  to  be  baptized  in  public  recogni- 
tion of  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brother- 
hood of  Man,  and  in  testimony  of  practical 
unity  and  community  of  life  in  the  spirit.  And 
the  only  heresy  or  cause  of  excommunication 
is  failure  to  keep  God's  holy  will  and  command- 
ments in  obedience  to  his  laws,  and  by  fulfill- 
ing the  same  in  love.  Nor  should  excommuni- 
cation be  by  any  process  of  ecclesiastical  law, 
there  being  in  fact  no  such  law  in  the  true 
Church  (Rom.  7  :  4-6 ;  Gal.  3 :  11-14),  whereby 
the  offender  may  be  tried  and  condemned.  On 
the  contrary  we  are  expressly  forbidden  to 
judge  each  other  (Matt.  7:  1;  Luke  6:  37; 
John  8 :  11),  and  instructed  that  every  trans- 
gressor under  the  gospel  should  be  left  to  con- 
demn himself  (John  3:  17;  Titus  3:  10,  11). 
To  judge  others  is  to  condemn  ourselves  (Rom. 
2 :  1) — is  evidence  that  while  we  profess  to  be 
free  from  the  bondage  of  the  law  we  are  still 
subject  thereto.  Yet  every  persistently  un- 
faithful member  may  and  should  be  excommu- 
nicated in  the  way  appointed  by  the  Christ,  in 
which  way  only  what  we  bind  or  loose  on  earth 
will  be  bound  or  loosed  in  heaven  (Matt.  18 : 
15-18). 

As  the  design  of  the  gospel  is  to  do  away 
with  the  necessity  of  laws  and  penalties,  the 


APPLIED    FAITH.  253 

church  cannot  consistently  make  laws  and  in- 
flict penalties.  To  attempt  to  enforce  its  prin- 
ciples is  to  abandon  its  principles,  and  to  render 
our  profession  of  love  vain  and  hypocritical. 
Indeed  the  special  mission  of  the  Christ,  as  St. 
Paul  declares,  is  to  abolish  the  law  of  com- 
mandments in  ordinances  (Eph.  2 :  15),  blot- 
ting out  the  handwriting  thereof,  and  nailing  it 
to  the  cross  (Col.  2 :  14).  "  Wherefore  if  ye 
be  dead  with  Christ  from  the  rudiments  of  the 
world,  why,  as  though  living  in  the  world,  are 
ye  subject  to  ordinances  (touch  not,  taste  not, 
handle  not,  which  all  are  to  perish  in  the  using) 
after  the  doctrines  and  commandments  of  men  " 
(Col.  20:  21,  22)?  Manifestly,  so  long  as  the 
church  is  subject  to  such  ordinances,  it  is  en- 
slaved, narrow,  illiberal,  all  freedom  of  thought, 
enterprise,  and  aspiration  limited  and  repressed, 
and  its  true  spirit  and  purpose — which  is  to  de- 
liver its  members  from  the  "  bondage  of  corrup- 
tion into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of 
God  " — perverted  into  a  system  of  tyranny  and 
oppression  (Isa.  32 :  5,  8 ;  2  Cor.  3 :  17 ;  Gal. 
5:  1-6). 

This,  therefore,  is  the  one  and  only  possible 
solution  of  the  problem  of  church  or  Christian 
unity,  whereby  all  diverse  and  hostile  sects  may 
be  united  in  one  body  in  Christ — not  by  any 


254       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

compromise  or  agreement  in  any  system  of  dog- 
matic theology  of  man's  appointment,  forms  of 
worship,  or  canon  laws,  but  by  abolishing  all 
such  ecclesiasticisms,  and  returning  to  the  orig- 
inal, free,  and  voluntary  system  and  polity  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God  ordained  by  the  Christ, 
"  that  they  all  may  be  one  as  Thou,  Father,  art 
in  me,  and  I  in  Thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one 
in  us ;  that  the  world  may  believe  that  Thou 
hast  sent  me."  Oneness  is  unity  in  liberty,  and 
there  can  be  no  greater  error  than  to  suppose  it 
can  be  secured  under  the  enforced  compulsion 
and  restrictions  of  canon  laws  (John  8 :  36 ; 
Gal.  4:  26;  5:  1). 

Peter  and  John  were  united  in  faith — one 
with  their  Master  in  spirit  and  purpose — but 
knew  nothing  of  creeds  or  canon  laws  in  the 
modern  sense,  each  teaching  the  philosophy  of 
the  gospel  as  he  understood  it,  and  in  his  own 
way — differing  no  doubt  in  unessential  matters, 
and  in  the  circumstances  and  necessities  of 
their  special  missions,  yet  in  perfect  harmony 
in  all  essential  things,  each  preaching  the  same 
gospel,  and  illustrating  the  same  faith  by  his 
works.  Each  recognized  the  other  as  his 
brother  in  the  church,  and  labored  with  him  to 
the  same  end — the  fulfilling  of  the  law  in  love 
in  the  unity  and  community  of  Man  with  God, 


APPLIED    FAITH.  255 

and  of  men  with  men.  Their  idea  of  organic 
unity  was  in  the  community  of  faith  and  works, 
and  not  at  all  in  the  commandments  and  ordi- 
nances of  men.  In  fact  there  was  no  church 
in  their  day  in  the  sense  it  is  supposed  to  exist 
now, — no  Kingdom  of  God  that  had  come  from 
observation ;  although,  being  developed  of  faith, 
its  presence  in  the  world  was  practically  re- 
vealed in  visible  signs,  and  realized  in  congre- 
gations or  brotherhoods. 

Now  when  our  faith  is  thus  practically  ap- 
plied to  the  restoration  of  unity,  the  church 
will  be  in  a  position  to  subject  the  world  unto 
itself, — to  illustrate  and  teach  by  its  own  ex- 
ample what  true  liberty,  equality,  and  frater- 
nity are,  to  heal  all  infirmities,  right  all  wrongs, 
and  remove  all  social  oppressions.  It  will  be 
one  body  in  Christ  (1  Cor.  10:  17),  wasting  noth- 
ing in  internal  dissensions, — no  time,  strength, 
or  money  in  partisan  zeal,  in  dogmatic  wran- 
gliugs,  in  heathenish,  sensational,  or  spectacular 
rites  or  ceremonials,  or  other  extravagances  and 
dissipations,  but  recognizing  what  things  are 
true  in  all  religions,  and  utilizing  them  for  the 
promotion  of  the  one  and  only  true  religion ; 
proving  all  things,  and  holding  fast  that  which 
is  good ;  forgetting  what  is  behind,  and  press- 


256  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

ing  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high 
calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus. 

When  such  unity  in  community  is  established, 
all  things,  so  far  as  regards  the  church  itself, 
will  become  practical  and  expedient ;  for  there 
is  no  doubt  at  all  that  both  clergy  and  laity  can 
voluntarily  distribute  their  incomes,  whether 
of  money,  knowledge,  experience,  privileges, 
comforts,  or  necessities  among  themselves  as 
they  have  need — not  grudgingly  or  of  neces- 
sity, but  cheerfully,  knowing  that  they  shall 
receive  as  they  give  in  full  measure,  pressed 
down  and  running  over  (Luke  6 :  38 ;  2  Cor. 
9:  6,  7;  Gal.  6:  10).  Otherwise— if  we  do 
not  give  as  we  receive — our  light  will  not  shine 
before  men,  and  we  cannot  win  them  to  the  true 
Church  (Matt.  5  :  16) — cannot  lay  up  treasures 
in  heaven  or  ourselves  enter  therein  (Matt.  6 : 
19,  20;  7:  21).  In  fact,  without  such  junity 
in  community  we  are  self-condemned  and  ex- 
communicated, though  we  still  remain  nomi- 
nally members  of  the  church,  not  being  Chris- 
tian in  spirit  or  in  truth.  Nor  can  any  domes- 
tic, social,  business,  or  political  interests  or 
considerations  excuse  us  from  this  first  and 
paramount  duty  which  all  members  of  the 
church  owe  to  each  other — that  of  mutual  love 
and  helpfulness,  which  is  the  bond  of  true  re- 


APPLIED    FAITH.  257 

ligion  in  the  Church  of  Christ  (Matt.  6 :  33 ; 
10:  37,  38;  Luke  14:  18,  19). 

But  if  it  be  said  that  rich  men  will  not  enter 
the  church,  if  they  are  required  to  share  their 
incomes  equally  with  their  poorer  brethren,  we 
answer  unhesitatingly,  that  if  such  men  keep 
aloof  through  such  a  selfish  motive,  they  are 
neither  wanted  in  the  church,  nor  can  be  justly 
permitted  to  enter ;  for  "  it  is  easier  for  a  camel 
to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle,"  than  for 
them  to  enter  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Of  such 
it  is  said,  "  Woe  unto  you  that  are  rich,  for  ye 
have  received  your  consolation.  Woe  unto  you 
that  are  full,  for  ye  shall  hunger.  Woe  unto 
you  that  laugh  now,  for  ye  shall  mourn  and 
weep."  But  the  rich  are  as  capable  of  becom- 
ing unselfish — that  is,  "  poor  in  spirit "  (Matt. 
5:3;  Jas.  1 :  9,  10) — as  are  the  poor ;  arid  no 
doubt  many  will  gladly  embrace  their  oppor- 
tunity to  lay  up  their  treasures  in  heaven.  Nor 
is  it  true  as  many  suppose,  that  all  business  en- 
terprise would  be  suppressed  among  members 
of  the  church,  were  community  in  unity  estab- 
lished, but  on  the  contrary  it  would  be  in- 
creased ;  for  .unselfishness — that  is,  love — in  a 
Christian  breast  is  a  higher  and  stronger  motive 
than  selfishness,  as  is  strikingly  illustrated  in 
the  parable  of  the  Talents  (Matt.  25 :  15-31) ; 


258  THE    GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

and  when  we  realize  that  our  riches  are  put  out 
at  usury  by  distributing  them  among  our  breth- 
ren in  Christ  as  they  have  need,  and  are  thereby 
not  only  saved  but  increased  and  utilized  to 
our  eternal  well-being,  our  desire  to  acquire 
wealth  will  be  encouraged  and  stimulated  that 
we  may  have  the  more  to  give  (Acts  20 :  35 ; 
Eph.  4 :  28). 

In  like  manner  it  may  be  said  that  many 
thriftless  persons  will  seek  entrance  in  order  to 
secure  a  livelihood  without  personal  exertion  ; 
but  if  any  enter  through  such  motive  they  may 
be  easily  detected  and  excommunicated  by 
withholding  from  them  all  contributions — thus 
treating  them  as  our  Master  has  directed  (Matt. 
18:  15-18). 

Doubtless,  also,  many  clergymen,  from  sel- 
fish motives,  will  oppose  community,  lest,  if 
denominationalism  be  done  away,  they  be 
thereby  deprived  of  their  livings,  a  less  number 
than  is  now  required  being  deemed  sufficient. 
And  certainly  a  less  number  will  be  required 
in  localities  where  the  church  has  been  already 
established,  though  many  more  than  are  now 
employed  will  be  required  in  other  localities. 
Thus  a  small  town  that  now  supports  the 
church  organizations  of  many  denominations 
will  need  but  one  ;  and  the  money  thus  saved 


APPLIED    FAITH.  259 

will  enable  it  to  send  as  many  or  more  mission- 
aries— and  all  true  clergymen  are  missionaries 
— into  other  fields  as  it  now  supports  at  home. 
If  there  be  a  will  to  bring  about  any  reforma- 
tion, there  is  always  a  way,  and  if  there  be  any 
Christianity  left  in  the  churches,  it  is  certain 
that  its  faith  can  be  practically  applied  to  the 
restoration  of  community  in  unity ;  howbeit 
much  patience  must  be  exercised  before  this 
can  be  realized,  so  many  are  the  sects,  and  so 
great  are  the  prejudices,  superstitions,  and 
bigotries — moths,  rust,  and  thieves — that  have 
been  developed  therein.  But  if  any  denomi- 
nation, or  single  congregation,  can  be  so  re- 
formed as  to  represent  the  original  spirit  and 
purpose  of  the  church,  it  will  ultimately  gather 
to  itself  all  other  denominations  and  congre- 
gations. Let  the  ministry  lead  the  way  in  this 
movement,  as  it  certainly  can  if  it  will — nay 
certainly  will,  if  it  be  not  simply  a  horde  of 
parasites — sharing  equally  with  each  other  its 
incomes,  and  the  laity  will  ultimately  follow  its 
example.  Whereupon,  being  assured  of  a  liveli- 
hood for  itself  and  its  families,  there  will  be  no 
occasion  for  lack  of  moral  courage,  and  it  can 
boldly  and  efficiently  preach  the  gospel  of  glad 
tidings  to  the  poor,  and  the  opening  of  every 
prison  door  of  social  injustice  and  oppression. 


260       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

Otherwise  it  is  impossible  for  it  to  become 
ensamples  to  or  feed  the  flock  of  Christ  (1  Pet. 
5 :  2,  3). 

Indeed  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  a 
more  abject  and  pitiable  condition  of  thrall- 
dom,  meanness,  and  beggary  than  that  of  a 
clergyman  who,  through  the  stress  of  temporal 
necessities,  feels  compelled  to  limit  his  faith  to 
a  narrow  and  bigoted  dogmatic  and  sectarian 
theology,  to  win  proselytes  to  his  sect,  and 
waste  his  time  and  exhaust  his  zeal  in  going 
from  house  to  house  pulling  door  bells,  in  social 
gossip,  in  formal  pietisms,  in  obsequious  and 
servile  flatteries  and  toadyisms.  Doubtless  it 
would  be  more  honorable  to  earn  one's  living 
by  tent-making  or  any  other  useful  employment 
than  by  ministering  to  the  fancies  and  tastes  of 
a  world-minded  congregation.  But  really  it  is 
more  the  fault  of  the  clergy  than  the  laity  that 
they  have  become  so  enthralled  that  they  dare 
not,  if  they  would,  preach  the  true  and  prac- 
tical gospel  of  liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity, 
being  in  a  condition  of  base  servility  through 
their  own  selfishness  and  narrow  mindedness, 
whereby  faith  in  creeds  of  their  own  appoint-1 
ment  has  been  substituted  for  faith  in  the 
gospel  of  liberty — thereby  creating  schisms, 
fomenting  strife,  and  suppressing  their  own 


APPLIED    FAITH.  261 

natural  spirit  of  manliness  and  independence. 
And  as  usual  in  such  cases,  the  innocent  suffer 
for  the  guilty, — the  true  apostles  and  prophets, 
being  cast  out  as  heretics  and  driven  into  the 
wilderness,  while  the  mere  time-servers  who 
preach  to  please  the  fancies  of  the  people  re- 
main to  enjoy  the  loaves  and  fishes — the  thirty 
pieces  of  silver  they  receive  for  the  betrayal  of 
their  Master — not  realizing  that  he  who  seeks 
to  save  his  life  loses  it,  and  he  who  loses  it  for 
the  sake  of  the  gospel  saves  it  (Matt.  10 :  39 ; 
16  :  25).  So  far,  and  only  so  far,  as  we  sustain 
each  other,  sharing  with  each  other  equitably 
all  our  incomes,  can  we  with  boldness  preach 
the  Kingdom  of  God,  or  ourselves  become  in- 
heritors thereof.  We  must  put  our  money  in 
one  bag,  as  did  the  immediate  disciples  of  the 
Christ.  Otherwise  we  are  tempted,  and  most 
of  us  really  compelled  like  the  Pharisees,  to 
compass  sea  and  land  to  make  proselytes  (Matt. 
23:  15),  that  we  may  keep  up  our  slender 
salaries,  while  others  receive  much  more  than 
they  need,  thus  making  themselves  objects  of 
envy  among  their  poorer  brethren. 

Now  while  every  individual  member  of  the 
Church  is  permitted  to  hold  the  titles  to  his 
own  property  and  give  as  he  pleases,  yet  if  he 
does  not  give  all  he  can  afford,  or  is  necessary 


262        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

and  expedient,  he  cannot  be  a  member.  Hence 
it  is  necessary  that  each  member  should  clearly 
understand  what  he  can  afford  and  what  is  ex- 
pedient to  be  given.  This,  however,  cannot  be 
determined  by  any  fixed  rule  of  proportion,  but 
in  the  unselfish  conscience  of  the  Church  by 
the  varying  necessities  of  its  members — although 
no  member  should  permit  himself  to  enjoy  any 
greater  opportunities  and  privileges  of  improve- 
ment, or  of  comforts  and  enjoyments,  than 
another.  Nor  in  order  to  secure  such  equality 
will  it  be  necessary  always  for  all  to  give  their 
entire  incomes  to  the  church ;  for  if  all  are 
temperate  and  industrious,  refraining  from  all 
extravagances,  useless  luxuries,  or  dissipations, 
many  can  accumulate  wealth  whereby  their  in- 
comes are  increased,  and  they  will  have  the 
more  to  give  as  the  necessities  arising  from  the 
increased  culture  and  refinement  of  the  congre- 
gation are  developed. 

Like  all  other  works  of  God  the  true  Church 
is  a  development  of  divine  Art  in  harmony  with 
natural,  moral,  and  spiritual  laws.  Hence  its 
organization — and  necessarily  it  must  have  or- 
ganization, as  have  all  works  of  God,  else  there 
would  be  no  authority,  order,  economy,  coher- 
ence, or  continuity  therein — must  be  such  as 
will  best  promote  the  purpose  for  which  it  is 


APPLIED    FAITH.  263 

designed.  Representing  the  body  of  Christ 
(Matt.  26:  26;  Rom.  12:  5),  it  must  be  "fitly 
joined  together  and  compacted  by  that  which 
every  joint  supplieth  according  to  the  effectual 
working  in  the  measure  of  every  part,  making 
increase  of  the  body  unto  the  edifying  of  itself 
in  love  "  (Eph.  4 :  16),  and  "  growing  up  into  a 
holy  temple  in  the  Lord."  It  must  also  have  a 
mind  receptive  of  knowledge  (Hos.  4:  6;  1 
Cor.  1:5;  Col.  2 :  3),  a  heart  beating  in  sym- 
pathy with  all  human  suffering  (Luke  4:18; 
1  Pet.  3 :  8),  and  the  spirit  of  obedience  to 
God's  will  (Heb.  10:  7;  1  John  2:  17).  And 
as  we  have  many  members  in  one  body,  and  all 
have  not  the  same  office,  there  must  necessarily 
be  orders  in  the  church,  representing  the  differ- 
ing gifts  of  its  members  and  their  varying  du- 
ties and  works  (Eph.  4:  11,  12),  each  coveting 
the  best  gifts,  and  exercising  authority  to  the 
degree  of  his  natural  and  cultured  abilities — 
howbeit  no  authority  may  be  exercised  arbi- 
trarily or  capriciously.  And  as  each  member 
voluntarily  subjects  himself  to  the  higher  pow- 
ers (Rom.  13:  1-11),  there  will  be  harmony  and 
cooperation,  and  all  things  will  be  done  decently 
and  in  order  (1  Cor.  14 :  40). 

But  it  is  supposed — and  herein  lies  a  radical 
error  of  the   churches  of  our  day — that   the 


264        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

necessary  organization  thereof,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  orders  essential  to  their  effi- 
ciency, unity,  and  continuity,  must  be  brought 
about  and  enforced  by  canon  laws ;  yet  as  there 
were  no  such  laws  in  the  original  church,  and 
as  that  church  is  manifestly  the  true  model  by 
which  all  should  be  constructed,  it  is  plain  that 
such  laws  are  not  only  unnecessary,  but  are  in- 
consistent with  the  spirit  of  the  gospel.  In- 
deed, to  the  degree  they  are  found  to  be  essen- 
tial— that  is,  so  far  as  a  voluntary  compact  can- 
not otherwise  be  maintained — is  the  congrega- 
tion corrupted,  and  has  ceased  to  be  a  church. 
Naturally  the  men  who  first  followed  the 
Christ  at  his  bidding  were  called  apostles,  and 
became  the  chief  missionaries.  As  chief  mis- 
sionaries they  also  naturally  became  overseers, 
that  is,  bishops  of  the  congregations  they  estab- 
lished, as  did  also  the  missionaries  that  suc- 
ceeded them.  What  is  now  called  a  diocese  or 
synod  originally  comprised  the  congregations 
which  the  missionary  established  and  the  local- 
ities in  which  he  labored,  which  naturally  rec- 
ognized him  as  their  overseer.  So  also  the  eld- 
ers were  men  of  age  and  experience  in  the  con- 
gregations, and  naturally  chosen  and  ordained 
as  overseers  and  pastors  of  the  flock  (Acts  14  : 
23 ;  1  Tim.  5:17;  1  Pet.  5 :  1-6) ;  and  the  like 


APPLIED    FAITH.  265 

is  true  of  deacons,  prophets,  evangelists,  pastors 
and  teachers  (Eph  4 :  11),  all  of  whom  were  de- 
veloped as  necessity  required  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  apostles,  Christ  being  the  chief  cor- 
ner stone  (Eph.  2 :  20).  None,  however,  were 
chosen  by  partiality  or  for  the  sake  of  preferring 
one  above  another  (1  Tim.  5 :  21,  22)  ;  nor  did 
any  accept  office  by  constraint  or  for  filthy  lucre, 
but  of  a  ready  mind ;  neither  as  being  lords 
over  God's  heritage,  but  being  ensamples  to  the 
flock  (1  Pet.  5 1  2,  3). 

As  all  things  were  common  in  the  original 
church — that  is,  held  by  the  individual  owners 
for  the  common  good — there  were  no  salaried 
offices,  all  sharing  equally  with  each  other,  to 
whatever  order  he  belonged.  All  being  labor- 
ers together  with  God  (1  Cor.  3 :  9),  no  dis- 
tinction seems  to  have  been  recognized  in  offi- 
cial merit  between  any  who  did  their  duty  to 
the  best  of  their  abilities,  nor  did  any  special 
privileges,  emoluments,  perquisites,  or  honorary 
titles  pertain  to  any  office — each  receiving  only 
his  penny  a  day,  that  is,  only  what  he  needed 
to  supply  his  necessities.  In  this  simple  way 
all  social  problems  pertaining  to  the  equal  and 
just  distribution  of  wealth  were  solved.  Nor  is 
it  possible  to  solve  them  in  any  other  way,  and 
at  the  same  time  entitle  us  to  enter  the  King- 


266       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

dom  of  God,  in  which  all  things  are  common, — 
howbeit  that  in  a  sinful  and  selfish  world,  not 
yet  subdued  to  the  church,  it  is  manifestly  in- 
expedient and  unjust  to  establish  and  enforce 
community  in  unity,  expept  to  the  degree  it  be 
leavened  by  the  spirit  of  the  gospel. 

As  worship  is  the  culture  of  religion,  it 
should  be  wholly  devoted  to  such  culture  ;  and 
as  very  much  of  what  is  called  worship  is 
merely  spectacular  and  ritualistic — merely  eye 
and  lip  service,  and  not  in  the  least  conducive 
to  our  social  well-being — faith  should  be  ap- 
plied to  its  reformation.  Thus  prayer,  which 
is  an  essential  element  of  worship,  should  be 
utilized  to  the  culture  of  high  and  pure  inspira- 
tions and  aspirations,  teaching  what  we  should 
strive  to  realize  in  ourselves  and  others — asking 
and  seeking  of  God  all  good  gifts  (Matt.  7  : 
7,  8),  knocking  that  the  door  may  be  opened  to 
the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  riches  we 
have  been  unable  to  realize  through  our  igno- 
rance, sin,  and  selfishness.  While  God  knoweth 
what  we  need  before  our  asking  (Matt.  6  :  8), 
yet,  aside  from  the  natural  gifts  he  bestows 
upon  all  men  (Matt.  5  :  45),  nothing  more  can 
be  bestowed  except  we  become  through  per- 
sonal culture  and  effort  capable  of  receiving 
and  enjoying  higher  gifts.  And  as  nothing  is 


APPLIED    FAITH.  267 

impossible  to  him  that  believeth  (Matt.  17 : 
20),  every  petition  which  presents  a  true  ideal 
of  increased  life  and  enjoyment,  if  persistently 
uttered  both  in  words  and  deeds,  will  in  due 
time  be  granted.  But  if  we  construe  persist- 
ence in  prayer — and  we  are  told  to  pray  with- 
out ceasing  (1  Tliess.  5  :  17) — to  mean  impor- 
tunity and  excess  in  lip  service,  or  if  we  pray 
to  be  seen  of  men  (Matt.  6  :  5,  6),  or  use  vain 
repetitions  (Matt.  6  :  7),  or  ask  God  to  do  for 
us  what  we  can  and  should  do  for  ourselves 
(Ex.  14 :  15 ;  Phil.  2 :  12),  our  prayers  are 
vain  and  hypocritical.  In  short,  all  true 
Christian  prayers  are  outlined  in  what  is 
known  as  the  Lord's  Prayer,  in  which  we  are 
taught  to  recognize  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  and 
our  own  sonship  in  him  ;  to  reverence  and  love 
him ;  to  promote  his  Kingdom  on  earth 
through  our  own  unity  and  brotherhood ;  to 
seek  opportunity  of  earning  our  daily  bread; 
to  overcome  temptation  by  following  his  guid- 
ance ;  to  forgive  as  we  would  be  forgiven  ;  and 
finally  to  seek  and  obtain  thereby  deliverance 
from  all  evil — all  of  which  manifestly  require 
for  their  realization  personal  effort  on  our  part. 
But  it  is  not  sufficient  to  apply  our  faith  to 
the  reformation  of  the  church.  In  fact,  if  it  be 
so  limited,  it  would  be  dead,  it  being  perverted 


268  THE   GATE   CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

to  the  exclusive  and  selfish  purpose  of  securing 
the  salvation  only  of  its  own  household — not 
differing  from  that  of  an  individual  ruled  by  a 
like  motive.  To  fulfill  the  law  in  love  our  mo- 
tive must  be  that  of  our  Master,  who  came,  not 
to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  through  him 
the  world  might  be  saved  (John  3  :  17).  This 
being  the  real  purpose  of  the  Christ — that 
through  him  the  world  might  be  saved — it 
must  also  be  that  of  the  Church  which  is  the 
body  of  Christ,  and  represents  his  real  presence 
in  the  world.  Like  the  Christ  the  Christian  in 
the  world  is  a  citizen  of  the  world,  howbeit 
that  in  the  church  his  citizenship  is  in  heaven 
(Eph.  2 :  19 ;  Phil.  3 :  20).  And  the  same  is 
true  of  the  Church  itself,  which,  though  not  of 
the  world,  is  yet  in  the  world,  subject  to  the 
necessities  of  the  flesh,  and  needs  and  receives 
protection  under  the  law.  While  therefore  it 
has  in  itself  no  necessity  of  statutes  and  ordi- 
nances of  man's  appointment,  it  is  necessarily 
subject  to  those  of  the  world,  not  only  for  its 
own  protection  from  the  world,  but  also  to  en- 
able it  to  exert  its  influence  and  fulfill  its  mis- 
sion therein.  Otherwise  it  would  be  entirely 
separated  from  the  world  which  it  seeks  to  re- 
deem and  subdue  unto  itself.  It  must  be  in- 
corporated under  the  civil  laws  that  it  may,  as 


APPLIED    FAITH.  269 

every  individual  member  does,  hold  its  posses- 
sions, and  carry  on  its  missionary,  educational, 
and  charitable  work.  All  true  members  will 
enter  actively  into  the  affairs  of  secular  life 
(Rom.  12:  11),  not  only  that  they  may  earn 
their  own  living,  but  also  that  they  may  create 
and  accumulate  riches ;  and  especially  into 
politics,  that  they  may  bring  the  civil  into  con- 
formity with  the  natural  and  moral  laws  of 
God,  whereby  all  men  may  be  protected  in  their 
natural  and  lawfully  acquired  rights  and  pos- 
sessions. Not  that  we  should  be  friends  of  the 
world — in  sympathy  with  its  selfishness,  vanity, 
and  worldly  pride — for  the  friendship  of  the 
world  is  enmity  with  God  (Jas.  4  :  4),  but  that 
we  should  bring  the  world  into  friendship  with 
the  Church.  Not  that  we  should  love  the 
world,  or  the  things  of  the  world,  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  love  of  God  (1  John  2 :  15),  but 
that  we  should  so  love  the  world  that  we  will- 
ingly and  gladly  undergo  any  needful  sacrifice 
to  redeem  and  save  it.  Not  that  we  should  be 
fashioned  according  to  the  world  (1  Cor.  7 :  31), 
for  the  fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away,  and 
our  effort  should  be  to  transform  it  into  the 
likeness  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  And  though 
we  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon,  we  may 
transform  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness  into 


270  THE  GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

a  servant  of  God.  In  short,  as  the  law  is  a 
schoolmaster  to  bring  us  to  Christ,  so  must  we 
use  it  to  bring  all  men  to  the  Church — must 
subject  them  to  the  discipline  of  the  law,  and 
at  the  same  time  teach  them  how  they  may  be 
redeemed  from  its  bondage — thus  rendering 
"  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  and 
unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's." 

To  apply  our  faith  to  the  redemption  of  the 
world  is  primarily  to  impart  it  to  the  world — 
which,  however,  we  can  never  do,  though  we 
talk  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels  (1 
Cor.  13:  1),  except  we  manifest  a  practical 
sympathy  with  oppressed  and  suffering  human 
beings — stop  to  listen  to  their  cries,  fasten  our 
eyes  upon  them,  study  their  condition,  and 
make  practical  effort  to  redeem  and  save  them. 
If  the  world  is  selfish,  we  must  show  ourselves 
unselfish, — unclean,  we  must  be  pure — unjust 
and  unmerciful,  we  must  be  just  and  merciful. 
This  was  the  method  of  Peter  and  John  when 
this  beggar  asked  of  them  an  alms.  They  lis- 
tened to  his  cry,  stopped  and  fastened  their 
eyes  upon  him.  Not  being  mere  literalists  in 
the  interpretation  of  the  gospel — not  simply 
seeing  with  their  natural  eyes,  or  hearing  with 
their  natural  ears,  but  seeing  and  hearing  also 
in  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  their  Master — they 


APPLIED    FAITH.  271 

recognized  in  this  beggar's  cry  the  voice  of  God 
directly  appealing  unto  them,  and  saying,  "  I 
am  hungry,  I  am  athirst,  I  am  a  stranger,  I  am 
naked,  I  am  sick,  I  am  in  prison"  (Matt.  25 : 
34_40)—"  enter  not  in  at  the  Beautiful  Gate  of 
my  Temple  without  first  making  every  effort 
and  sacrifice  to  bring  in  others  with  you,  who 
by  their  uncleanness,  misfortunes,  or  infirmities 
are  excluded  therefrom."  It  is  also  the  voice 
of  his  church  ;  and  any  professed  believer  who 
is  yet  blind  and  deaf  to  the  oppressions  and 
sufferings  of  his  fellow-men — unwilling  to  give 
as  he  has  received, — willing  to  save  himself, 
but  unwilling  to  save  others — is  dead  in  faith 
(Jas.  2:  17-20),  and  instead  of  saving  his 
life  will  lose  it,  and  all  other  possessions  he  has 
thought  to  save  through  selfishness  will  be 
taken  from  him  (Luke  8 :  18). 

As  no  unclean  person  can  enter  the  King- 
dom of  God  (Eph.  5 :  5),  any  person  who  sup- 
poses himself  to  be  in  the  church  because  his 
name  is  enrolled  in  the  list  of  communicants, 
but  who  in  spirit  is  indifferent  to  the  injustice 
and  selfishness  of  society,  deceiveth  himself,  and 
his  religion  is  vain  and  hypocritical  (Jas.  1 :  26, 
27), — not  being  clothed  in  the  wedding  garment 
of  loyalty  to  his  Master  (Matt.  22:  11).  In 
other  words,  except  we  be  undefiled  with  selfish 


272       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

motives  when  we  are  baptized,  we  are  not  bap- 
tized into  the  church,  our  baptism  being  un- 
christian. 

Now  the  motive  of  Peter  arid  John,  when 
they  stopped  and  fastened  their  eyes  upon  this 
beggar,  was  an  unselfish  desire  to  help  him ; 
and  to  this  end  they  sought  first  to  impart  their 
faith.  Had  they  not  stopped,  thereby  chal- 
lenging his  attention,  and  testifying  their  inter- 
est in  him,  this  would  have  been  impossible ; 
for  unless  we  manifest  a  personal  interest  in  the 
moth,  rust,  and  thief,  we  cannot  exert  any  re- 
ligious and  personal  influence  upon  them,  or 
develop  any  responsive  effort  on  their  part  to 
help  themselves ;  and  if  we  do  not  fasten  our 
eyes  upon  them  we  cannot  study  their  con- 
dition, or  devise  any  practical  method  for  their 
redemption.  Had  they  failed  to  impart  their 
faith,  as  well  they  might — for  all  social  para- 
sites are  largely  such  from  the  depressing  and 
brutalizing  conditions  and  influences  of  a  selfish 
society  of  which  they  have  been  evolved  and 
developed,  and  by  which  they  have  become 
hopeless  of  improvement,  or  utterly  indifferent 
thereto — they  would  have  passed  him  by,  and 
left  him  to  be  dealt  with  and  disciplined  by  the 
law  (Matt.  10:  14;  18:  34).  Having  nothing 
to  impart  but  their  faith,  they  would  have  been 


APPLIED    FAITH.  273 

powerless  to  help  him  through  the  ministrations 
of  the  gospel — from  faith  being  evolved  and  de- 
veloped all  true  hopes  and  efforts  for  improve- 
ment (Matt  13 :  58 ;  Eph.  2 :  8). 

As  comparatively  few  parasites  can  be  re- 
claimed by  moral  suasion  only,  the  chief  effort 
of  Christian  people  should  be  practically  to  ap- 
ply their  faith  to  the  improvement  and  enforce- 
ment of  the  civil  laws,  whereby  such  laws  may 
be  conformed  in  spirit  and  purpose  with  the 
natural  and  moral  laws  of  God  ;  for  otherwise — 
through  our  citizenship  in  the  world  we  being 
responsible  with  others  for  its  corrupt  and  op- 
pressive political  conditions — it  would  be  hypo- 
critical for  us  to  exhort  sinful  men  to  look  unto 
us  and  be  saved  from  the  social  evils  which 
have  resulted  from  such  conditions.  In  fact,  it 
is  impossible  for  any  man  to  be  a  Christian  ex- 
cept he  be  also  a  good  citizen,  doing  all  he  can 
to  promote  equitable  civil  government ;  for  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  gospel  are  the 
same  as  those  of  the  natural  and  moral  laws, 
howbeit  that  it  represents  a  higher  culture 
thereof.  The  Church  is  the  true  ideal  of  the 
nation,  a  Kingdom  ruled  in  righteousness,  and 
its  design  is  to  convert  the  nation  into  such  a 
Kingdom.  The  idea,  therefore,  that  because 
our  citizenship  is  in  heaven  we  have  no  responsi- 


274  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

bility  for  the  political  conditions  of  the  nation — 
are  prohibited,  in  fact,  from  meddling  with  poli- 
tics— is  a  radical  error,  utterly  subversive  of  the 
principles  of  true  religion,  and  opposed  to  the 
express  command  of  our  Master,  that  we  should 
render  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's. 
Caesar  is  the  civil  government,  without  which 
in  a  sinful  world  there  could  be  no  protection 
of  the  church,  or  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of 
men.  He  is  in  the  world  a  higher  power  (Rom. 
13:  1-8;  Titus  3 :  1),  a  minister  of  God  for 
good,  and,  however  tyrannical,  essential  to  the 
world's  discipline.  To  the  degree  that  the 
world  becomes  leavened  with  the  spirit  of  the 
gospel  will  the  civil  government  be  conformed 
to  the  moral  law  and  converted  into  a  school  of 
Christ. 

How  then  should  our  faith  be  applied  to  the 
reformation  of  the  government?  Simply  and 
precisely  in  the  same  way  that  every  true 
Christian  man  has  applied  it  to  the  reformation 
of  his  individual  life.  As  he  has  been  brought 
to  Christ  primarily  by  obedience  to  natural  and 
moral  laws,  so  should  he  strive  to  discipline 
the  government.  Caesar  must  be  taught  these 
laws  and  obedience  thereto — that  his  authority 
is  derived  wholly  from  God,  that  so  far  only  as 
he  enacts  and  enforces  these  laws  for  the  well- 


APPLIED    FAITH.  275 

being  of  the  people  governed,  and  the  protec- 
tion of  their  rights  and  liberties,  is  he  a  minis- 
ter of  God ;  and  that  so  far  as  he  neglects  to 
enact  and  enforce  them,  or  enacts  and  enforces 
other  laws  for  the  promotion  of  selfish  inter- 
ests, is  he  a  usurper  and  a  tyrant. 

By  natural  laws  we  mean  such  as  God  has 
ordained  for  the  conservation  and  promotion  of 
bodily  health  and  strength,  which  are  mani- 
festly of  primary  importance,  our  bodies  being 
the  habitations  of  our  spirits  (1  Cor.  3  :  16 ;  6 : 
19,  20),  and  upon  their  well-being  depending 
our  capacities  for  activity  and  enjoyment  in 
this  world.  Hence,  as  instructed  by  the  Christ, 
the  first  practical  duty  and  work  of  his  disciples 
being  to  heal  the  physically  sick  and  infirm 
(Matt.  10 :  1,  8),  so  manifestly  this  should  be 
also  the  primary  duty  of  the  church.  It  is  a 
great  error — equivalent  in  fact  to  deferring  our 
social  salvation  wholly  to  the  next  life — to  sup- 
pose the  culture  of  true  religion  does  not  in- 
clude the  culture  of  bodily  health,  and  the  pre- 
vention and  cure  of  all  its  diseases  and  infirmi- 
ties. All  the  prophets,  the  Christ  himself,  and 
all  his  apostles,  thus  interpret  his  mission  (Ps. 
103:  3;  Ezek.3±:  4;  Mal.4:  2;  Matt.  4:  23; 
Luke  9  :  6,  11).  In  fact,  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble to  have  any  practical  conception  of  the  for- 


276  THE   GATE   CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

giveness  of  sins,  unless  such  absolution  were 
evidenced  of  its  healing  power — all  diseases  and 
infirmities  having  resulted  from  our  transgres- 
sions of  God's  laws  (Mark  2 :  10,  11).  Hence 
natural  laws,  so  far  as  they  pertain  to  the  pro- 
motion and  preservation  of  health,  should  be 
so  thoroughly  taught  in  our  public  schools  that 
all  persons  will  be  without  excuse  for  the  viola- 
tion thereof.  And  to  the  end  that  they  may  be 
enforced,  every  citizen  should  be  provided  with 
ample  space  and  opportunity  for  the  free  exer- 
cise of  his  body  and  mind,  pure  air,  water  and 
sunlight,  comfortable  clothing  and  shelter.  All 
dwellings  and  business  houses  should  be  so 
constructed  and  apart  from  each  other  as  to 
permit  of  proper  ventilation  and  drainage. 
Unclean  habits,  pollutions,  adulterations,  ex- 
travagances, and  excesses  of  any  kind  should 
be  strictly  prohibited. 

Moreover,  that  the  sins  of  parents  rnay  not 
be  visited  upon  their  children,  no  persons  should 
be  permitted  to  marry  who  are  incapable  of 
producing  reasonably  healthy  offspring.  Nor 
should  those  who  do  marry  be  permitted  to  live 
and  rear  their  children  in  other  than  healthy 
conditions  and  surroundings. 

What  is  true  of  natural  is  true  also  of  moral 
laws — written  on  tables  of  stone  by  the  finger 


APPLIED  FAITH.  277 

of  God,  and  therefore  immutable  and  imperish- 
able, to  which  we  must  conform  our  political 
polities,  if  ever  the  world  be  redeemed  and 
saved,  and  liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity, 
practically  realized  ;  and  as  these  when  fulfilled 
in  love  develop  into  the  gospel  of  the  Christ — 
and  there  could  be  no  gospel  except  by  such 
fulfillment — it  is  the  duty  of  every  Christian 
as  a  citizen  of  the  world  to  apply  his  faith  to 
their  enforcement  both  in  letter  and  spirit. 

Now  as  parents  are  permitted  to  rule  their 
children  solely  for  their  good,  and  have  no  dis- 
ciplinary authority  over  them  except  to  compel 
them  to  do  what  is  essential  to  their  well-being, 
or  to  refrain  from  doing  what  is  detrimental 
thereto,  so  is  the  government  permitted  to  rule 
and  discipline  its  people.  And  as  the  family  is 
a  community  in  which  parents  and  children 
share  equitably  in  all  possessions  and  privileges, 
so  is  the  State  a  cooperative  association,  a  com- 
monwealth, established  for  the  promotion  of 
just  and  equitable  social  relations  and  interests. 
Deriving  its  authority  wholly  from  God  the 
Father,  it  is  wholly  paternal,  as  the  relations  of 
individuals  to  each  other — all  being  children  of 
God — are  fraternal.  And  whether  it  be  vested 
in  a  judge,  king,  or  president,  it  is  absolute  so 
far  as  it  fulfills  its  divine  purpose,  and  does 


278  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

nothing  more  or  less  than  to  enforce  the  moral 
law  both  in  letter  and  spirit.  It  must  represent 
and  enforce  the  will  of  God,  not  the  personal 
will  of  the  ruler  any  farther  than  he  is  himself 
just,  nor  the  will  of  the  people  governed  except 
to  the  degree  they  are  disposed  to  love  God  and 
each  other.  "He  hath  showed  thee,  O  man, 
what  is  good ;  and  what  doth  the  Lord  require 
of  thee  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and 
to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God  ?  "  (Mic.  6  :  8). 
As  liberty  is  attainable  only  through  voluntary 
obedience  to  the  laws  of  God,  self-government 
— which  is  freedom — is  permissible  only  to  the 
degree  no  government  at  all  is  required. 
Otherwise  self-government  is  mob-law.  What- 
ever then  is  for  the  common  good  of  the  com- 
munity the  government  has  not  only  a  right, 
but  is  also  required,  to  do  or  forbid  to  be  done ; 
and  as  it  represents  the  power  and  will  of  the 
supreme  Father,  all  individual  interests  must 
be  subordinate  thereto.  And  as  earth,  air, 
water,  and  light  are  the  natural  gifts  of  God 
bestowed  upon  all  men,  whether  just  or  unjust 
(Matt.  5  :  45),  the  titles  thereto  are  mediately 
vested  in  the  government,  that  the  use  thereof 
may  be  apportioned  equally  among  all  people 
as  they  have  need.  Nothing,  in  fact,  can  be 
justly  claimed  by  any  individual  as  exclusively 


APPLIED   FAITH.  279 

his  own,  except  what  he  has  himself  created  or 
earned  by  his  own  industry  ;  and  as  all  men 
are  social  beings,  even  that  which  is  one's  own 
must  be  held  for  the  common  good. 

Now  while  the  constitutions  and  laws  of 
Christian  nations  are  for  the  most  part  fairly 
just  so  far  as  they  go,  and  in  conformity  with 
natural  and  moral  laws  of  God,  yet,  being  self- 
ishly interpreted  and  administered  in  the  letter 
only,  they  have  become  exceedingly  unjust  and 
oppressive.  Hence  Christian  faith  should  be 
applied  not  so  much  for  the  repeal  thereof  as 
for  such  modification  and  improvement  as  will 
secure  their  practical  administration  in  the 
spirit.  And  to  this  end  every  constitution 
should  contain  a  preamble  or  declaration  of 
principles,  affirming  that  the  purpose  of  the 
government  is  to  enforce  the  will  of  God  from 
whom  all  authority  is  derived : — that  natural 
laws  as  defined  in  his  Book  of  Nature,  and 
moral  laws  as  defined  in  his  written  Word  are 
the  full  and  perfect  symbols  thereof;  and  that 
no  legislation  shall  be  deemed  lawful  that  is 
not  in  harmony  therewith  both  in  letter  and 
spirit.  With  such  declaration  no  executive  of- 
ficer, legislature,  or  judge  can  rightly  enforce, 
make,  or  construe  any  civil  law  otherwise  than 
in  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  of  liberty,  equality, 


280  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

and  fraternity.  Thus,  if  all  avarice  and  selfish- 
ness be  interpreted  by  the  courts  as  thievery, 
and  all  social  tyranny,  oppression,  and  hatred 
as  murder,  as  they  really  are  (1  John  3  :  15), 
there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  the  solution  of  so- 
cial problems.  A  true  government  possessing, 
as  it  does,  all  the  authority  of  the  infinite 
Father  in  the  enforcement  of  his  Will,  is  prac- 
tically a  court  of  equity  to  which  all  persons 
can  appeal  for  the  redress  of  their  grievances, 
and  it  has  a  right,  and  is  required,  to  protect 
all  its  people  in  all  natural  and  lawfully  ac- 
quired rights. 


PART  II. 

APPLIED    HOPE. 

"LOOK  on  us," — so  said  Peter  and  John  to 
this  beggar.  Although  they  had  stopped  and 
fastened  their  eyes  upon  him,  it  is  not  likely 
that  his  attention  had  been  specially  attracted 
to  them  among  the  multitude  who  were  throng- 
ing in  at  the  gate,  some  of  whom  had  no  doubt 
stopped  long  enough  to  bestow  alms  upon  him. 
But  aroused  by  these  earnest  words  he  looked 
up,  and  beheld  two  men — strangers,  but  whose 
profound  interest  in  him,  and  sympathy  in  his 
distress,  were  unmistakable.  Naturally  he  gave 
heed  unto  them,  expecting  to  receive  something 
from  them  ;  and  though  at  first  he  may  have 
anticipated  nothing  better  than  money,  confi- 
dence was  inspired  in  his  breast  that  they  were 
his  friends,  and  were  willing  and  able  to  help 
him.  The  tone  of  voice  with  which  they  bade 
him  look  on  them,  and  the  expression  of  their 
eyes  so  intently  fixed  upon  him,  permitted  of 
no  doubt  of  this.  And  when  we  reflect  that 
they  were  the  immediate  disciples  of  the  Christ, 
281 


282  THE   GATE   CALLED    BEAUTIFUL. 

had  forsaken  all  to  follow  their  Master,  were 
one  with  their  Master  in  Spirit  and  purpose, 
and  endowed  with  his  miraculous  gifts,  we  can- 
not wonder  that  such  tone  and  expression 
should  have  imparted  to  this  poor  cripple  a 
miraculous  inspiration,  put  into  his  feet  and 
ankle  bones  strength,  made  a  new  man  of  him, 
and  given  him  power  when  bidden  to  leap  and 
walk.  Never  before  had  he  beheld  fixed  upon 
him,  the  eyes  of  pure  unselfishness  and  at  the 
same  time  of  a  faith  able  to  remove  mountains. 
Nor  can  we  doubt  that  could  the  poor  and  op- 
pressed in  our  day,  when  we,  who  profess  to  be 
ministers  of  Christ,  as  Peter  and  John  were, 
fasten  our  eyes  upon  them,  see  therein  a  like 
expression  of  unselfish  love,  and  a  like  con- 
sciousness of  divine  power,  miracles  of  redemp- 
tion might  be  wrought  in  their  behalf.  Not  that 
we  do  not  wish  to  do  our  duty,  but  that  our 
sense  of  duty  has  become  so  dulled  by  the 
stress  of  our  private  and  temporal  necessities, 
arising  from  the  unnatural  and  oppressive  so- 
cial conditions  in  which  we  are  involved,  and 
by  which  we  seem  compelled  to  live  for  bread 
alone,  so  limited  to  the  perfunctory  discharge 
of  conventional  obligations  that  we  have  our- 
selves become  spiritually  crippled,  and  our 
sacred  calling  perverted  into  a  system  of  pro- 


APPLIED    HOPE.  283 

fessioiial  beggary.  Not  that  we  do  not  stop 
when  we  hear  cries  of  distress,  and  fix  our  eyes 
upon  those  who  utter  them,  but  that  our  atti- 
tude is  so  conventional  and  patronizing  that,  so 
far  from  inspiring  the  poor  with  self-respect 
and  personal  aspirations  and  efforts  for  improve- 
ment, we  arouse  in  their  breasts  feelings  of  re- 
sentment and  envy.  Not  that  we  have  no 
faith,  but  that  we  are  so  dependent  on  the  rich 
for  our  support,  and  are  ourselves  so  world- 
minded,  that  we  "have  the  faith  of  our  Master 
in  respect  of  persons,"  and  are  incapable  of 
working  miracles  or  inspiring  any  practical 
hope  of  redemption.  Not  that  we  have  no 
charitable  feeling,  but  that  we  have  ourselves 
become  so  dependent  upon  the  charities  of  the 
rich,  we  have  come  to  think  that  the  gifts  of 
God  may  be  purchased  with  money,  and  that 
alms -giving — the  distribution  of  the  crumbs 
which  fall  from  the  rich  men's  tables  (Luke  16: 
21) — is  the  best  that  can  be  done  for  the  poor. 

As  God,  through  the  lips  of  his  prophets  of 
old,  exhorted  all  men  to  look  unto  him  and 
be  saved  (Isa.  45:  22),  and  in  these  last  days 
has  spoken  by  his  Son  (Heb.  1 :  1,  2),  saying, 
"  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest "  (Matt.  11 :  28), 
so  also  Peter  and  John,  apostles  and  ministers 


284  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

of  the  Christ,  recognizing  in  this  helpless,  hope- 
less despised  human  being  a  brother  man,  ex- 
horted him  to  look  on  them.  As  their  spirit 
and  purpose  were  inspired  of  their  Master,  they 
were  in  the  place  of  their  Master,  as  their  Mas- 
ter was  in  the  place  of  God,  and  to  look  on 
them  was  practically  to  look  on  their  Master 
and  their  God.  What  God  and  the  Son  of 
God  were  to  them,  such  were  they  to  this 
beggar — their  eyes  God's  unselfish  eyes,  and 
their  voice  God's  unselfish  voice  ;  and  such  too 
are  all  true  ministers  of  Christ  to  all  who  labor 
and  are  heavy  laden. 

Believing  the  Christ  in  the  flesh  to  have  been 
the  revelation  of  what  God  in  the  spirit  is  in 
his  relations  to  men,  and  that  the  Church  he 
established  here  is  his  constant  and  visible 
presence  in  the  world,  we  cannot  doubt  that, 
if  the  hope  and  effort  of  the  gospel  for  our 
social  redemption  were  responded  to,  as  this 
hitherto  helpless  and  hopeless  man  responded 
to  the  exhortation  of  Peter  and  John,  in  cor- 
responding hope  and  effort  on  the  part  of  all 
or  any  who  by  the  sin  and  selfishness  of  the 
world  are  deprived  of  their  natural  and  just 
rights,  the  whole  power  of  God  would  be  ex- 
erted for  their  justification.  Indeed  this  is  a8 
certainly  true  as  that  there  is  an  infinite  and 


APPLIED    HOPE.  285 

supreme  Power,  Love,  and  Mercy,  and  that  his 
Way,  Truth,  and  Life  are  revealed  and  illus- 
trated in  Perfect  Man. 

Assuming,  therefore,  that  the  motive  of  Peter 
and  John,  when  they  exhorted  this  human  moth 
to  look  on  them,  was  to  awaken  such  hope  of 
redemption  in  his  breast  as  would  inspire  him 
with  corresponding  effort  to  realize  it,  we  ought 
not  to  doubt  that,  to  the  degree  the  church  in- 
spires a  like  hope,  it  may  without  hypocrisy, 
and  with  the  consciousness  of  limitless  power 
in  God,  exhort  all  men  to  look  unto  itself  and 
be  saved ;  for  as  through  sin  and  selfishness  all 
suffering  and  injustice  are  evolved  and  devel- 
oped in  society,  there  is  a  reasonable  hope  of 
redemption — nay,  an  absolute  certainty  thereof 
—presented  in  the  true  Church  of  Christ,  from 
which  sin  and  selfishness  are  excluded.  But 
if  the  poor  and  oppressed  hear  in  the  voice  of 
the  congregation,  or  see  in  its  eyes,  the  expres- 
sion only  of  worldly  pride,  vanity,  haughty  con- 
descension, or  pharisaical  self-righteousness,  it 
is  impossible  that  it  should  possess  any  power 
of  God,  or  inspire  any  reasonable  hope  of  re- 
demption either  in  this  life  or  in  the  life  to 
come,  however  devout  its  attitude  may  other- 
wise be,  or  frequent  its  prayers.  Surely  the 
crippled  and  enslaved  classes  of  society — crip* 


286       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

pled  and  enslaved  by  poverty,  by  infirmities  of 
body  and  mind,  degraded  and  brutalized  by 
constant  and  excessive  toil,  rusted  and  dissi- 
pated by  idleness  or  useless  luxuries,  or  de- 
praved and  vitiated  by  violations  of  natural 
and  moral  laws, — can  be  inspired  with  no  earn- 
est and  practical  efforts  for  self-improvement 
by  looking  upon  world-minded  congregations, 
dainty  priests,  stately  bishops,  frantic  exhorters, 
dogmatic  schoolmen,  ritualistic  novelties,  vain 
austerities,  affected  pietisms,  magical  infusions 
of  holiness,  juggleries,  incantations,  and  fetich- 
isms.  Not  that  our  church  membership  is  com- 
posed wholly  or  mostly  of  willful  hypocrites, 
but  that,  blinded  and  deceived  by  mere  con- 
ventional forms  of  godliness,  which  have  no 
power  thereof  (2  Tim.  3 :  5),  and  carried  away 
by  zeal  without  knowledge  (Rom.  10 :  2) — a 
sectarian,  consuming  and  wasting  zeal  (Ps. 
69:  9;  John  2:  17) — most  members  have  be- 
come unconscious  of  what  the  mission  of  the 
Christ  really  was.  What  can  be  more  unrea- 
sonable, not  to  say  hypocritical,  than  for  us  to 
exhort  sinners  to  look  unto  us  and  be  clean, 
when  we  ourselves  are  but  whited  sepulchres 
full  of  all  uncleanness? — to  be  at  peace  with 
God  and  men,  when  we  are  full  of  sectarian 
and  dogmatic  strife? — to  renounce  the  world, 


APPLIED    HOPE.  287 

when  we  are  as  worldly  as  the  world  itself? 
What  do  we  mean  when  we  exhort  sinners  to 
come  into  the  church  and  be  saved  ?  What  is 
it  to  be  saved,  and  what  is  there  in  our  congre- 
gations that  inspires  a  reasonable  hope  of  sal- 
vation? Surely  nothing,  except  it  be  the  prac- 
tical realization  therein  of  Fatherhood  in  God 
and  Sonship  and  Brotherhood  in  Christ. 

No  doubt,  as  Christian  hope  is  the  natural 
evolution  of  Christian  faith  (2  Cor.  10:  15; 
Heb.  11 :  1),  and  must  correspond  therewith 
in  spirit  and  purpose,  the  unreasonableness  of 
that  now  presented  in  the  congregations  of  the 
church  has  resulted  from  a  corresponding  weak- 
ness and  inefficiency  of  their  faith,  largely  cor- 
rupted from  a  belief  and  trust  in  the  Father- 
hood of  God  to  a  belief  and  trust  in  creeds, 
statutes,  and  ordinances  of  man's  appointment, 
and  applied  to  sensual,  superstitious,  and  sec- 
tarian uses.  Manifestly  there  is  no  inspiring 
hope  developed  from  such  creeds,  statutes,  and 
ordinances.  They  are  but  contentions  with  the 
Almighty,  instructing  and  reproving  God  (Job 
40 :  2),  condemning  him  that  we  may  be  right- 
eous (Job  40 :  2,  8), — not  wrath  against  injustice, 
nor  looking  on  the  proud  to  condemn  and  abase 
them  (Job  40 :  11,  12)  whereby  we  are  saved 
by  our  own  right  hand  (14), — but  attempts  of 


288  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

selfish  men  to  subdue  and  limit  God's  great 
power  in  the  Church  with  lines,  hooks,  and 
thorns  (Job  41 :  1,  2).  They  represent  only 
the  hypocrite's  hope  (Job  27 :  8),  for  there  can 
be  no  greater  hypocrisy  than  to  attempt  to  de- 
velop Christian  hope  from  faith  in  creeds,  stat- 
utes, and  ordinance  of  man's  appointment — 
nay,  to  affirm  and  enforce  them  upon  the  human 
conscience  and  reason — thus  asserting  salvation 
in  the  name  of  men,  when  we  are  expressly  told 
that  there  is  no  other  name  under  heaven  given 
among  men  but  that  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Naza- 
reth whereby  they  must  be  saved.  Not  till  we 
present  a  reasonable  way  in  which  the  prison 
doors  of  social  oppression  and  repression  can  be 
opened,  and  all  infirmity  and  distress  removed 
— which  was  the  mission  of  the  Christ — can  we 
develop  a  reasonable  hope  of  salvation. 

Moreover  the  hope  now  presented  by  the 
churches  is  unreasonable,  because  its  realiza- 
tion is  almost  wholly  deferred  to  the  future  life 
—not  necessarily,  for  we  can,  if  we  will,  do 
God's  will  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven ; 
can  treat  each  other  in  the  church  as  the  chil- 
dren of  God  treat  each  other  in  heaven — but 
because  we  are  unwilling  to  dwell  together  as 
brethren  and  members  of  the  household  of  God, 
sharing  justly  with  each  other  in  our  burdens 


APPLIED    HOPE.  289 

and  privileges,  our  sorrows  and  joys.  How  can 
we  reasonably  exhort  men  to  lay  up  their  treas- 
ures in  heaven,  when  we  ourselves  are  laying  up 
our  treasures  on  earth  to  be  corrupted  by  moths 
and  rust,  or  stolen  by  thieves?  How  indeed 
can  our  earthly  treasures  be  laid  up  in  heaven 
and  become  imperishable, — we  having  brought 
nothing  into  this  world,  and  it  being  certain 
we  can  carry  nothing  out  (1  Tim.  6 :  7) — except 
we  devote  them  to  the  interests  of  the  church, 
which,  if  the  true  church,  is  heaven  on  earth? 
to  defer  to  the  morrow  what  can  be  done  to-day 
(Prov.  3:  28;  Matt.  6  :  34;  Jas.  4:  13-17)- 
the  realization  of  hopes  and  the  enjoyment  of 
treasures  which  may  be  in  a  measure  realized 
and  enjoyed  now, — is  but  to  disappoint  our 
hopes  and  waste  our  treasures ;  and  the  motive 
of  such  procrastination  is  either  selfish  and 
worldly,  or  must  spring  from  our  own  lack  of 
faith  in  the  power  of  God  to  help  and  save  us, 
and  therefore  is  hypocritical — unlike  that  which 
inspired  the  Psalmist's  prayer :  "  Save  now,  I 
beseech  thee,  O  Lord ;  O  Lord,  I  beseech  thee, 
send  now  prosperity  "  (Ps.  118  :  25). 

As  we  enter  the  church  that  we  may  save 
our  souls,  which  are  our  greatest  treasures,  so 
should  we  bring  with  us  into  the  church  all 
other  treasures  that  they  too  may  be  saved, — 


290  THE  GATE  CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

nay,  must  bring  them  with  us  if  we  save  them 
at  all,  for  there  is  no  way  to  save  anything  but 
by  using  it  for  the  purpose  God  designed  it  to 
be  used.  In  no  instance  did  the  Christ  defer 
the  practical  realization  of  the  hopes  he  inspired 
to  the  next  life.  He  did  not  say  to  the  lame, 
blind,  deaf,  leprous,  possessed  of  devils  or  other- 
wise oppressed,  Wait  till  you  die,-  and  then  I 
will  heal  your  infirmities,  and  release  you  from 
your  thralldom,  but  to  all  who  believed  in  him, 
and  responded  to  the  hope  of  salvation  pre- 
sented in  his  gospel  with  personal  efforts  to  help 
themselves,  he  restored  strength  and  health, 
cast  out  their  devils,  forgave  their  sins,  re- 
mitted their  penalties,  and  set  them  at  liberty. 
Not  that  final  and  complete  exaltation  and 
freedom  can  be  attained  immediately  in  a  sin- 
ful and  selfish  world,  any  more  than  a  babe 
can  become  instantly  a  man,  but  that  it  can  be 
begun  at  once,  assured  and  partially  realized, — 
howbeit  the  disciple  cannot  be  above  his  Master, 
but  must  be  as  his  Master ;  and  though  he  be 
subject  as  was  his  Master  to  temptation,  and 
death,  he  will  like  him  be  made  perfect  through 
suffering,  raised  up,  and  glorified  (Rev.  2 :  10). 
No  congregation  can  be  faithful  unto  death, 
except  it  strive  to  live  here  as  they  live  in 
heaven — doing  the  will  of  God  here  as  it  is 


APPLIED    HOPE.  291 

done  in  heaven,  and  realizing  the  hopes  and 
promises  of  the  gospel  here  as  they  are  realized 
in  heaven. 

Wherefore  Peter  and  John,  apostles  and 
ministers  of  the  Christ — sent  into  the  world  by 
him  even  as  he  was  sent — sought  to  apply  their 
hope  to  the  immediate  redemption  of  all  men, 
to  heal  every  infirmity,  right  every  wrong,  and 
open  every  prison  door.  They  were  prepared 
to  say  to  this  beggar  that  right  there  and  then 
he  might  practically  realize  the  hope  and 
promise  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Naz- 
areth. And  certainly,  to  be  able  to  rise  and 
walk  and  enter  within  the  Beautiful  Gate  was 
to  realize  such  hope  and  promise  so  far  as  this 
earthly  life  is  concerned.  Being  enabled  to 
walk,  admitted  to  a  congregation  in  which  all 
were  brethren,  each  doing  unto  others  as  he 
would  they  should  do  unto  him,  it  was  impossi- 
ble that  he  should  be  compelled  longer  to  beg 
his  bread,  or  come  short  of  any  gift  of  God. 
Hence  we  may  assert  with  entire  confidence 
that,  so  far  as  the  Church  does  not  seek  to 
shirk,  postpone  and  avoid  its  responsibilities, 
but  is  willing  now  and  here  to  take  any  man 
by  the  hand,  however  poor  and  despised,  who 
through  faith  is  willing  to  make  proper  effort 
to  help  himself,  set  him  on  his  feet,  bring  him 


292  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

into  the  Fold  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  and  share 
equally  with  him  as  hi  has  need  of  all  its  priv- 
ileges and  possessions,  it  will  to  the  full  meas- 
ure of  its  faith  be  endowed  with  the  power  of 
God  to  redeem  lost  souls — "  to  loose  the  bands 
of  wickedness,  to  undo  the  heavy  burdens,  and 
to  let  the  oppressed  go  free ;  "  nay,  even  to  for- 
give sins  (Matt.  9:  6;  2  Cor.  2:  10),  and  raise 
the  dead  to  life  (Col.  3 ;  1-4).  To  the  degree 
only  that  we  make  effort  to  undo  the  heavy 
burdens  of  others,  to  open  every  prison  door, 
and  to  break  every  yoke  of  oppression,  can  we 
inspire  reasonable  hope,  or  possess  power  to 
forgive  or  be  forgiven  (Luke  1 :  17 ;  John  20 : 
23).  In  no  instance  did  the  Christ  pronounce 
remission  of  sins  without  removing  the  burdens 
and  penalties  which  were  incurred  by  sin 
(Matt.  9 :  2,  5,  6).  So  also  the  proper  and  only 
practical  way  to  raise  the  dead  to  life,  or  to  be- 
come ourselves  partakers  of  the  resurrection,  is 
to  impart  such  hope  to  the  hopeless,  and  such 
life  to  the  dead  in  trespass  and  sins — and  there 
is  really  no  other  death — as  will  quicken  them 
to  a  new  life,  and  inspire  them  with  efforts  and 
aspirations  for  self  improvement  (Jas.  5  :  15). 

We  cannot  impart  to  others  what  we  do  not 
ourselves  possess  ;  and  no  professed  minister  of 
Christ  possesses  a  reasonable  hope,  unless  he  be 


APPLIED    HOPE.  293 

willing  to  follow  his  Masters  example  of  per- 
sonal self-denial  and  self-sacrifice  for  the  salva- 
tion of  men — to  give,  as  he  has  received,  oppor- 
tunities to  others  equal  as  with  what  he  himself 
possesses.  Manifestly,  if  we  have  not  been 
quickened  by  the  inspiring  hope  of  the  gospel, 
we  cannot  quicken  others, — if  not  ourselves 
forgiven  our  debts,  cannot  forgive  others  their 
debts, — if  not  risen  with  Christ  from  the  dead, 
cannot  raise  others  from  the  dead  (Col.  3 :  1). 
In  fact,  unless  we  be  already  risen  in  Christ, 
when  our  dust  is  returned  to  dust,  there  is  no 
promise  of  resurrection  thereafter.  By  seeking 
in  this  life  "  the  things  which  are  above  "  are 
we  prepared  to  realize  them  in  the  next  life — 
loving  our  neighbor  as  ourself,  making  him  rich 
as  we  are  rich,  sharing  his  burdens,  healing  his 
infirmities,  making  him  free  as  we  are  free,  and 
leading  him  in  with  us  at  the  Beautiful  Gate  to 
a  social  condition  in  which  "  there  shall  be  no 
more  death,  sorrow,  nor  crying."  Indeed  a 
reasonable  hope,  whereby  we  are  quickened, 
and  inspired  with  aspirations  and  efforts  for  the 
improvement  of  our  social  condition,  is  itself 
resurrection  to  a  new  life  (Col.  2 :  12). 

Every  true  hope  is  manifestly  one  which, 
when  realized,  confers  a  blessing.  Hence,  to 
apply  our  hope  practically  is  to  strive  to  bestow 


294  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

blessings  upon  our  fellow-men.  Every  beati- 
tude of  the  gospel  of  the  Christ  is  one  of  hope, 
and  is  partially  realized  by  every  true  disciple 
here  in  this  life.  Thus  the  Christ  did  not  say, 
Blessed  will  be  the  poor  in  spirit,  for  theirs  will 
be  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  in  the  next  life,  but, 
"  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  for  theirs  is  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven" — both  here  and  here- 
after. No  person  can  enter  the  true  church  ex- 
cept he  be  poor  in  spirit,  however  rich  in  purse 
— conscious  that  through  sin  and  selfishness  he 
is  poor  and  blind  and  miserable,  and  through 
repentance  led  to  seek  the  reformation  and  im- 
provement of  his  condition, — but  if  permitted 
to  enter,  each  member  being  as  rich  as  the  com- 
bined riches  of  all  members,  he  is  no  longer 
poor  in  this  life,  and  being  moreover  a  son  of 
God  and  member  of  his  household,  he  is  a  joint 
heir  with  Christ  in  the  boundless  riches  of  the 
heavenly  kingdom  (Rom.  8:  17;  1  Tim.  6:  17). 
To  impart  therefore,  to  the  poor  and  op- 
pressed in  this  life  the  hope,  opportunity,  and 
privilege  of  becoming  members  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  is  the  greatest  blessing  possible  for  us 
to  bestow ;  and  certainly  we  can  do  this  if  the 
congregation  represents  a  real  brotherhood,  in 
which  no  man  calls  aught  of  the  things  he  pos- 
sesses his  own,  and  all  things  are  common.  In 


APPLIED    HOPE.  295 

this  way  can  we  truthfully  and  practically  say 
unto  those  who  mourn,  Ye  shall  be  comforted ; 
— to  the  meek,  Ye  shall  inherit  the  earth  ; — to 
the  hungry  and  athirst  after  righteousness,  Ye 
shall  be  filled  ; — to  the  merciful,  Ye  shall  obtain 
mercy  ; — to  the  pure,  Ye  shall  see  God  ; — to  the 
peacemakers,  Ye  shall  be  called  the  children  of 
God ; — to  those  who  are  persecuted  for  right- 
eousness' sake,  Yours  is  the  Kingdom  of  God ; 
— to  those  who  die  in  the  Lord,  Your  works 
shall  follow  you.  But  if  neither  the  poor  and 
miserable  nor  the  rich  and  selfish  will  repent 
and  respond  to  the  saving  faith  and  hope  we 
seek  to  impart,  when  we  stop  and  fix  our  eyes 
upon  them,  with  efforts  to  help  themselves,  we, 
as  Christians,  can  only  weep  for  them  as  the 
Christ  wept  over  Jerusalem  (Luke  19 :  41,  42), 
and  the  great  prophet  of  Israel  wept  over  his 
people  ( Jer.  9 :  1-6) — howbeit,  as  citizens  of  the 
State,  we  may  and  should  still  strive,  through 
the  discipline  of  the  law,  to  bring  them  to 
Christ. 

But  manifestly  Christian  hope  is  not  only  ob- 
jective, not  simply  the  desire  and  promise  of 
realizing  outward  things,  but  also  subjective, 
that  which  hungers  and  thirsts  after  righteous- 
ness, whereby  it  may  attain  to  the  inward  real- 
ization of  redeemed  and  ennobled  manhood, — 


296  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

for  "  what  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  shall  gain 
the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul "  (Mark 
8 :  36) — be  accorded  all  social  rights,  privileges, 
and  possessions  that  can  be  objectively  realized 
in  this  earthly  life,  and  yet,  from  lack  of  spir- 
itual culture,  ultimately  find  the  Beautiful  Gate 
closed  and  bolted  against  him  ?  This,  however 
is  really  an  absurd  hypothesis,  since  it  is  mani- 
festly impossible  for  any  man  to  improve  or 
possess  anything  at  all  except  to  the  degree  of 
his  spiritual  development  and  consciousness, 
from  which  he  derives  all  his  capacities  for  en- 
joyment. Indeed  all  ideas  of  liberty,  equality, 
and  fraternity  are  but  idle  dreamings,  utterly 
fanciful  and  impractical,  if  not  inspired  with 
heavenly  aspirations  through  the  Spirit  of 
Truth,  Justice,  and  Love.  To  possess  any  good 
gift  is  not  to  possess  it — is  really  poverty,  mis- 
ery, and  shame — if  we  do  not  appreciate  its 
value,  or  if  we  pervert  it  to  unnatural  uses. 
Thus  money  hoarded,  or  spent  in  riotous  living, 
is  not  riches  but  a  source  of  poverty  to  its  pos- 
sessor. To  hope  for  liberty  without  the  cul- 
ture of  obedience,  or  for  equality  without  the 
culture  of  personal  nobility  of  character,  or  for 
fraternity  without  mutual  love,  is  not  only  ab- 
surd, but  can  result  only  in  confusion  and 
shame.  Christian  "  hope  maketh  not  ashamed, 


APPLIED    HOPE.  29T 

because  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our 
hearts  by  the  Holy  Spirit  which  is  given  unto 
us  "  (Rom.  5 :  5).  And  without  such  love  no 
practicable  and  just  system  of  sociology  can  be 
devised,  nor  indeed  any  human  being  redeemed 
from  social  bondage  to  the  world,  the  flesh,  and 
the  devil. 

Had  this  beggar's  hope  been  simply  to  re- 
ceive some  objective  thing  of  Peter  and  John, 
or  had  he  been  content  with  such  gift  as  he  at 
first  desired,  aspiring  for  nothing  better — noth- 
ing that  would  have  ennobled  his  personal 
character,  and  developed  a  consciousness  of 
true  self-respect,  manliness,  and  independence 
— he  would  have  remained  a  beggar,  and  his 
hope  would  have  made  him  ashamed ;  for  every 
man  is  a  beggar  and  destitute  of  true  self-re- 
spect, however  poor  or  rich  in  outward  things, 
who  is  willing  to  subsist  upon  the  fruits  of 
other  men's  labors.  Hence,  if  any  men  or  class 
of  men,  either  by  legalized  or  revolutionary 
methods,  being  themselves  poor  in  purse,  seek 
to  compel  others  rich  in  purse  to  share  their 
riches  with  them ;  or  being  rich  in  purse,  avail 
themselves  of  their  riches  to  compel  the  poor 
to  support  them  in  idleness  and  useless  luxuries 
and  extravagances,  they  are  beggars,  and  their 
inspiring  motive  or  hope  will  inevitably  make 


298       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

them  ashamed.  Mutual  dependence,  however, 
whereby  we  give  as  we  receive  according  to  our 
abilities  and  necessities,  doing  unto  others  as  we 
would  they  should  do  unto  us — helping  each 
other  as  we  receive  help  from  the  Father  of  all, 
— is  social  freedom,  our  hopes  being  inspired  by 
motives  of  brotherly  kindness  and  love. 

When,  therefore,  we  seek  to  apply  our 
Christian  hope  to  the  discipline  of  the  world 
that  it  may  be  brought  to  Christ,  we  should 
strive  to  establish  and  enforce  such  statutes 
and  ordinances  as  will  confer  upon  all  in- 
dividuals equal  opportunities  of  helping  them- 
selves, while  at  the  same  time  all  are  required 
to  help  each  other.  This  may  seem  contra- 
dictory and  absurd — that  the  opportunity  of 
helping  one's  self  should  be  conferred  only  on 
condition  that  we  help  each  other ;  for  if  one 
needs  help  to  help  himself  he  would  seem  to  be 
in  no  condition  to  help  others.  But  every 
helper  needs  help,  even  as  Peter  and  John 
needed  the  help  of  God  to  work  this  miracle, 
and  needed  also  the  help  of  this  beggar  in  their 
ministry,  that  the  glory  of  God  might  be  made 
manifest  in  him  (John  9 :  2,  3).  Nay,  even 
God  and  his  Christ  need  help — the  cooperation 
of  all  sijiful  men — that  the  world  may  be  re- 
deemed. Helping  others  is,  therefore,  helping 


APPLIED    HOPE.  299 

ourselves ;  and  helping  ourselves  is  helping 
others.  And  manifestly  the  first  requisite  to 
mutual  help  is  that  every  person  should  possess 
every  needful  opportunity  of  helping  himself 
that  he  may  be  able  to  help  others.  Indeed 
there  can  be  no  reasonable  hope  developed  of 
our  faith  except  to  the  degree  that  opportunity 
of  realizing  such  hope  be  first  developed.  That 
is,  next  to  faith,  opportunity  is  the  primary  req- 
uisite of  hope ;  and  in  order  to  apply  our  hope 
to  the  redemption  of  the  world,  we  must  en- 
deavor as  citizens  of  the  world  to  secure  to 
each  individual  the  opportunity  of  self-support, 
and  of  limitlessly  improving  his  social  condi- 
tion. 

But  while  it  is  easy  to  say  and  understand 
that  the  primary  requisite  to  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  Christian  hope  to  the  redemption 
of  the  world  from  social  thralldom  is  that  every 
person  be  given  ample  opportunity  for  improve- 
ment, it  is  confessedly  very  difficult  to  confer 
such  opportunity — not,  however,  that  the  way 
is  not  plain,  but  that  many  are  either  too  selfish 
to  pursue  it,  too  spiritually  blind  and  ignorant 
to  discern  it,  or  so  hopelessly  discouraged,  de- 
praved, indolent,  or  thriftless,  that  they  are  in- 
disposed to  seek  or  improve  opportunities  when 
conferred  upon  them.  Hence  ample  opportu- 


300        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

nities  should  not  only  be  conferred  upon  all  in- 
dividuals and  classes  of  society,  so  that  none 
will  have  any  excuse  for  beggary,  rust,  or 
thievery,  or  any  occasion  for  grievance,  but  all 
should  also  be  compelled  to  improve  them. 
Thus  it  is  certainly  practicable  for  the  State  to 
establish  a  public  and  free  system  of  compul- 
sory education,  whereby  to  the  utmost  limits  of 
their  capabilities  and  desires  all  persons  are  en- 
abled to  acquire  useful  knowledge  both  theo- 
retical and  practical.  And  that  they  may  have 
leisure  for  study,  as  also  for  such  rest  and 
recreation  as  are  essential  to  health  and  happi- 
ness, the  hours  devoted  to  what  is  called  busi- 
ness should,  and  no  doubt  can  be,  limited  to 
such  only  as  are  requisite  to  the  production  of 
all  things  that  are  essential  to  the  existence, 
well-being,  and  improvement  of  society.  Doubt- 
less if  all  persons  who  are  capable  of  labor  were 
required  to  work  for  their  living,  three  or  four 
hours  daily  devoted  thereto  would  be  sufficient 
to  supply  all  necessities, — all  moths,  rust,  and 
thieves  being  eliminated,  as  they  easily  could, 
be,  if  all  members  of  society  were  granted 
equal  opportunities,  and  all  consumers  were 
compelled  to  be  producers.  Nor  is  such  legis- 
lation impracticable,  but  is  an  imperative  duty 
on  the  part  of  the  government,  and  should  be 


APPLIED    HOPE.  301 

immediately  enacted  and  enforced — quite  as  im- 
perative as  is  the  duty  of  every  parent  to  edu- 
cate and  discipline  his  children  for  future  use- 
fulness. To  be  sure,  very  much  "  business " 
would  by  such  legislation  be  suppressed,  and 
also  much  that  is  called  "business  enterprise," 
but  is  only  avarice,  and  without  true  hope  or 
aspiration  for  improvement.  With  less  busi- 
ness and  more  laborers  the  burdens  of  the  peo- 
ple would  be  correspondingly  lightened.  In 
this  simple  way  all  labor  problems  would  be 
solved.  And  doubtless,  all  nations  professedly 
Christian  are  already  so  leavened  with  the  spirit 
of  the  gospel,  as  to  render  such  legislation  as 
will  confer  upon  all  good  citizens  equal  oppor- 
tunities for  increase  and  improvement  not  only 
wise  and  practicable,  but  also  absolutely  es- 
sential to  their  own  safety  and  permanence. 

But  when  we  say  such  legislation  should  be 
immediately  enacted  and  enforced,  we  do  not 
mean  that  much  patience  is  not  requisite  thereto ; 
for  in  the  nature  of  things  no  hopes  can  be 
realized  in  an  instant  of  time  any  more  than 
the  hope  in  the  seed  can  at  once  be  realized  in 
the  full  corn  in  the  ear.  Indeed  nothing  good 
can  be  realized  until  we  have  first  acquired 
patience,  to  wait  for  it — (Luke  8  :  15;  Rom.  5  : 
3,4;  Col.  1:11;  Heb.  6:12;  Jas.  1 :  3,  4;  5:  7; 


302       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

Rev.  3  :  10);  for  otherwise  by  undue  haste  we 
should  not  only  disappoint  our  hopes,  but  also 
subject  ourselves  to  greater  evils.  "  Sufficient 
unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof"  (Matt.  6:  33, 
34;  2  Cor.  12:  9,  10),  howbeit  we  should 
never  be  content  in  social  bondage,  or  willingly 
suffer  wrong.  Patience  is  not  content,  but  is 
persistence  in  well-doing,  and  fortitude  to  en- 
dure all  things  essential  to  the  ultimate  realiza- 
tion of  our  hopes.  We  cannot  reform  the 
government  by  overthrowing  it  by  revolution- 
ary methods,  whereby  we  destroy  the  power  of 
just  legislation  whereon  our  hope  of  political 
freedom  is  based.  "  It  is  useless  to  kick  against 
the  pricks,"  and  unwise  to  kill  the  goose  which 
lays  the  golden  eggs. 

To  be  sure,  it  is  better  voluntarily  to  obey 
the  laws  of  God — in  which  case  there  would  be 
no  necessity  of  any  civil  government, — but 
such  freedom  can  only  be  fully  realized  when 
all  men  become  members  of  the  true  church  of 
Christ.  Of  course,  hope  alone  is  not  realiza- 
tion, howbeit  it  is  the  forerunner  and  medium 
thereof,  and  as  such  is  a  foretaste  of  the  free- 
dom and  joy  which  such  realization  brings. 

While,  therefore,  we  are  not  permitted  to 
resort  to  unnatural  and  unlawful  methods  to 
obtain  our  object,  and  it  will  require  time  to 


APPLIED    HOPE.  303 

secure  the  requisite  legislation,  yet  as  the  men 
who  labor  and  are  heavy  laden  vastly  outnum- 
ber the  parasites  who  subsist  upon  the  fruits  of 
their  labors,  there  is  no  doubt  at  all  that  they 
can  without  unreasonable  delay  secure  the  en- 
actment and  enforcement  of  such  statutes  and 
ordinances  as  will  confer  equal  opportunities 
upon  all,  and  at  the  same  time  compel  all,  ac- 
cording to  their  abilities,  to  pursue  useful  occu- 
pations and  contribute  equally  to  the  common 
necessities  of  life.  And  to  this  end  all  in- 
jurious or  useless  occupations,  all  dissipations, 
monopolies,  or  combinations  whereby  one  class 
seeks  to  promote  its  selfish  interests  to  the 
detriment  of  another's,  and  all  other  parasitic 
evils  resulting  from  violations  either  in  the 
letter  or  spirit  of  the  natural  or  moral  laws 
should  be  rigidly  suppressed.  In  this  way  all 
selfishness  or  pseudo-respectability  that  boasts 
itself  in  and  defends  its  ill-gotten  gains  by  the 
law,  will  be  overcome  by  the  law,  and  made  to 
appear  criminal  as  it  really  is.  So  also,  as 
avarice  is  thereby  repressed,  the  vast  concen- 
trations of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few  will  in 
like  degree  be  repressed,  while  at  the  same 
time  the  aggregate  of  wealth  in  the  community 
will  be  correspondingly  increased  and  dis- 
tributed. 


304  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

And  finally,  that  the  State  may  really  and 
practically  become  a  commonwealth,  and  may 
possess  the  means  and  power  of  conferring  upon 
all  good  citizens  equal  privileges  and  opportuni- 
ties, it  should,  in  the  exercise  of  its  undoubted 
rights  of  eminent  domain,  decree  that  all  titles 
to  earth,  air,  water,  sunshine,  and  all  other  free 
gifts  of  God  not  already  alienated,  be  inalien- 
ably vested  in  Itself  for  the  equitable  use  of  all 
good  citizens.  And  further,  that  at  the  death 
of  each  citizen  all  his  titles  to  property  of  any 
public  value — real,  personal,  and  mixed, — shall 
also  become  vested  in  the  State  ;  howbeit,  that 
so  long  as  an  individual  lives,  and  is  obedient 
to  the  laws,  he  be  permitted  to  honestly  create, 
acquire,  possess,  and  enjoy  all  personal  proper- 
ties to  the  utmost  limits  of  his  abilities  and  de- 
sires. 

Thus,  and  without  trespassing  upon  the 
rights  of  any,  all  citizens  would  be  permitted 
to  hope  for  limitless  improvements,  and  none 
would  lack  ample  opportunities  for  the  practi- 
cal realization  thereof. 


PART  III. 

APPLIED    CHAKITY. 

"SILVER  and  gold  have  I  none,"  said  Peter 
to  this  beggar  who,  when  bidden,  had  looked 
wistfully  into  the  Apostles'  faces,  expecting  to 
receive  something  from  them.  As  he  had  asked 
an  alms,  and  never  had  hoped  for  anything 
better — his  infirmity  being  deemed  incurable 
from  birth — he  doubtless  would  have  been 
grateful  and  content  according  to  the  measure 
of  his  expectations,  had  they  each  bestowed  on 
him  a  penny.  Most  beggars  are  satisfied  with 
the  gift  of  money,  and  most  persons  who  be- 
stow it  upon  them,  finding  them  content  there- 
with, are  also  satisfied  that  they  have  done  the 
best  they  could  to  help  the  poor,  and  to  fulfill 
the  requirements  of  the  gospel  of  charity. 
That  is,  money  has  come  to  be  regarded,  both 
in  the  world  and  in  the  church,  as  the  greatest 
blessing  we  can  bestow  or  receive,  whereas  it 
is  intrinsically  of  little  value  or  necessity — 
none  at  all,  in  fact,  except  to  the  degree  it  has 
become  a  necessity  through  our  cupidity  and 

305 


306  THE  GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

selfishness,  whereby  we  are  unwilling  to  be- 
stow upon  each  other  what  we  need  without 
money  or  price.  Indeed  we  are  expressly  told 
that  it  cannot  purchase  the  gifts  of  God  (2 
Kings  5:  16;  Isa.  55:  1;  Acts  8:  20) ;  and  our 
Lord  forbade  his  disciples  to  use  it,  or  even 
take  it  with  them,  in  their  ministrations,  when 
he  sent  them  out  into  the  world  to  proclaim  his 
gospel — although  they  used  it  as  citizens  of  the 
world  to  purchase  what  was  essential  to  phys- 
ical sustenance,  and  to  pay  taxes  to  Csesar 
(Matt.  17:  24-27;  John  4:  8).  Nor  is  it  likely 
that  Peter  and  John  would  have  bestowed  any 
alms  upon  this  beggar  had  their  pockets  been 
full  of  silver  and  gold,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  they  had  something  better  to  give.  Yet, 
had  they  had  nothing  but  money,  they  doubt- 
less would,  as  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  doubt- 
less did,  have  tossed  into  his  lap  a  penny  or 
two  as  they  passed  him  by.  In  fact  we  may 
assert  positively,  from  the  letter  and  spirit 
of  the  gospel,  that  the  more  we  rely  upon  a 
moneyed  charity,  the  greater  will  be  the  neces- 
sity thereof;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  more 
brotherly  kindness  and  love  are  cultivated — 
which  is  real  and  genuine  charity — the  less  oc- 
casion will  there  be  for  the  use  of  money.  For 
to  the  degree  we  love  God  and  our  fellow-men 


APPLIED  CHARITY.  SOt 

will  we  share  with  each  other  whatever  we  pos- 
sess without  money  or  price  (Isa.  55 :  1 ;  Matt. 
13:  46;  14:  15-22;  1  Cor.  9:  13,  14).  As  the 
law  is  bondage,  and  money  is  a  creature  of  the 
law,  we  cannot  by  the  use  of  money  satisfy  the 
requirements  of  love,  or  ourselves  be  delivered 
from  the  bondage  of  the  law  into  the  glorious 
liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 

If,  therefore,  we  be  ministers  of  Christ — hav- 
ing, as  we  profess  to  have,  something  to  bestow 
upon  the  poor  better  than  money, — we  should 
not  give  money,  but  that  which  is  better,  else 
our  righteousness  would  not  exceed  that  of  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  and  we  could  in  no  case 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  (Matt.  5 :  20). 

Evidently  there  must  be  something  better 
than  alms,  and  if  there  be,  alms  is  not  charity; 
for  charity  is  love,  which  is  better  than  any- 
thing else,  a  pure  unselfishness;  and  without 
love  nothing  is  of  any  more  value  than  a  barren 
fig  tree.  Even  faith  and  hope  are  fruitless  if 
they  do  not  evolve  love ;  for  "  though  I  have 
all  faith  so  that  I  could  remove  mountains,  and 
have  not  charity,  I  am  nothing ;  and  though  I 
bestow  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and 
though  I  give  my  body  to  be  burned,  and  have 
not  charity,  it  profiteth  me  nothing "  (1  Cor. 
13 :  2,  3).  Not  that  faith,  or  alms,  or  martyr- 


308  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

dom  can  have  no  merit,  but  that,  except  to  the 
degree  the  motive  thereof  is  unselfish  love,  it  is 
like  the  good  seed  sown  by  the  wayside,  or  on 
stony  ground,  or  among  thorns,  and  brings  no 
fruit  to  perfection.  The  like  is  true  of  the 
law,  if  it  be  not  fulfilled  in  love.  Not  that  the 
law  is  sin,  it  being  a  necessary  discipline  for  the 
suppression  of  selfishness,  and  to  lead  us  to  re- 
pentance, but  that  "  if  righteousness  come  by 
the  law  Christ  is  dead  in  vain  "  (Gal.  2:  21). 

Alms-giving,  therefore, — though  essential  as 
a  discipline  under  the  law,  and  no  person  can 
become  a  Christian  except  he  be  willing  to  give 
unto  others  as  he  would  that  others  should  give 
unto  him,  is  not  Christianity — Christianity  re- 
quiring us  to  give  freely  without  thought  of 
return,  and  even  when  we  know  there  can  be 
no  return.  Alms-giving  is  good  citizenship  in 
the  world,  and  as  such  is  a  social  duty,  but  is 
not  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to 
every  or  any  one  that  believeth  (Rom.  10 :  4), 
and  if  relied  upon  as  such  renders  us  unright- 
eous. Plainly,  therefore,  no  man  can  be  a  true 
follower  of  Christ,  or  member  of  his  church, 
except  to  the  degree  the  motive  of  his  faith  and 
hope  be  unselfish  love  of  God  and  Man.  And 
if  simple  alms-giving  be  not  such  love,  he  must, 
like  Peter  and  John,  in  order  to  become  a 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  309 

Christian,  have  something  of  more  value  to  give 
than  silver  and  gold.  Otherwise  he  might  have 
nothing  at  all  to  give,  and  others,  less  loving 
than  he,  have  much,  the  value  and  amount  of 
charity  being  estimated  by  a  standard  of  silver 
or  gold. 

Being  simply  the  fruit  of  secular  labors, 
money  can  be  of  no  intrinsic  value  except  to 
promote  secular  interests;  and  if  we  regard, 
use,  receive,  and  bestow  it  as  the  end  of  the 
law  for  righteousness,  we  show  plainly  that  the 
religion  we  profess  has  become  secularized, 
practiced  only  in  the  letter,  and  that  we  our- 
selves are  mercenary  in  spirit.  What  then  ?  Is 
alms-giving  a  sin  ?  God  forbid ;  for  as  the  law 
was  added  because  of  our  transgressions  (Gal. 
3 :  19),  and  its  penalties  inflicted  as  a  necessary 
discipline  to  bring  us  to  repentance,  whereby  it 
might  be  fulfilled  in  love,  so  alms-giving  is  or- 
dained because  of  our  selfishness,  and  is  essen- 
tial to  the  restraint  and  discipline  of  our  cupid- 
ity. And  as  we,  as  citizens  of  the  world,  sub- 
ject to  Csesar,  must  obey  the  law,  so  must  we, 
when  required,  give  alms  to  the  poor  to  supply 
their  temporal  necessities.  But  in  the  church, 
in  which  all  are  citizens  of  the  heavenly  king- 
dom, and  equal  with  each  other  (Gal.  3 :  28), — 
for  all  members  are  one  body  in  Christ,  and 


310  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

whether  one  member  suffer,  all  members  suffer 
with  it  (1  Cor.  12  :  25-27) — there  is  no  occa- 
sion for  alms-giving  any  more  than  in  a  private 
family,  in  which  parents  and  children  share 
equally  with  each  other  in  all  their  possessions. 
If,  therefore,  one  member  gives  money  as  alms 
to  another  he  is  not  a  true  member,  not  appre- 
hending what  the  spirit  of  the  church  or  of  true 
charity  is. 

As  the  true  Christian  fulfills  the  law  in  love, 
— that  is,  because  he  loves  justice  and  honesty, 
— so  does  he  give  to  the  church,  sharing  equally 
with  his  fellow-members  all  his  possessions,  not 
grudgingly  or  of  necessity,  but  cheerfully  (2 
Cor.  9 :  7)  through  love  of  God  and  his  fellow- 
men — not  by  compulsion,  or  as  a  duty  or  debt. 
Nor  does  any  member  receive  free  gifts  of  his 
fellow-members,  or  of  God,  as  a  beggar  receives 
them,  but  because  he  is  a  free  man,  needs  them, 
has  a  right  to  them,  and  knows  they  are  freely 
given  for  the  love  of  giving.  Alms-giving  at 
the  best  is  only  the  testimony  of  a  pitiful  feel- 
ing which,  though  it  be  a  credit  to  us,  is  not 
charity  :  for  we  may  give  all  our  goods  to  feed 
the  poor  through  our  pity  for  their  suffering, 
and  yet  not  love  them  unselfishly.  In  fact  it  is 
degrading,  and  should  make  us  ashamed  to  per- 
mit ourselves  either  to  become  an  object  of 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  311 

pity,  or  to  bestow  gifts  through  a  feeling  of 
pity  only.  In  other  words,  except  pity  develop 
into  love,  it  is  but  as  sounding  brass  or  tinkling 
cymbal. 

To  interpret  charity  practically  as  alms,  and 
limiting  its  idea  thereto,  is  as  erroneous  as  prac- 
tically to  interpret  Christianity  as  simply  obedi- 
ence to  the  moral  law  in  the  letter.  To  be  sure, 
we  cannot  be  Christians  except  we  give  alms 
and  obey  the  moral  law  in  the  letter,  yet  are  we 
not  Christians  till  alms-giving  and  the  law  are 
fulfilled  in  spirit — that  is,  voluntarily,  through 
love  of  God  and  our  brother  men.  Otherwise, 
if  not  bestowed  in  love — alms  serve  to  vitiate 
the  motive  not  only  of  those  who  bestow  them, 
but  also  of  those  who  receive  them,  rendering 
it  selfish  and  mercenary,  and,  so  far  from  allevi- 
ating poverty  and  distress,  tends  to  aggravate 
and  increase  them.  On  the  one  hand,  it  is 
simply  an  effort  to  purchase  salvation  with 
money,  and  on  the  other  betrays  a  willingness 
to  repress, — as  Esau  did  when  he  sold  his  birth- 
right for  a  mess  of  pottage — one's  natural  as- 
pirations for  freedom,  and  his  personal  sense  of 
manliness  and  self-respect,  for  a  mere  pittance 
grudgingly  bestowed.  Indeed  there  can  be  no 
pure  charity  bestowed  through  a  sense  of  duty, 
debt,  moral  obligation,  or  personal  gain,  but 


312  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

only  through  unselfish  love  of  God  and  Man ; 
nor  can  any  be  received  except  as  a  natural 
right,  or  as  purchased  without  money  or  price, 
— although  all  social  duties,  debts,  and  moral 
obligations  must  be  enforced  and  discharged 
until  the  law  be  fulfilled  in  love. 

The  mission  of  the  Christ  was  not  to  collect 
alms  and  distribute  them  among  the  poor,  for 
that  could  be  and  was  done  before  his  coming, 
and  he  had  a  much  greater  and  better  work  to 
accomplish — to  fulfill  the  law  in  love,  whereby 
the  necessity  of  alms  would  be  done  away. 
Nor  is  this  the  mission  of  the  Church,  it  not 
being  an  eleemosynary  institution — hospital, 
poorhouse,  insane  asylum,  or  other  infirmary, — 
but  the  Kingdom  of  God,  in  which  there  are  no 
moths,  rusts,  or  thieves.  That  is,  it  solves  all 
social  problems  of  poverty,  dissipation,  and 
thievery,  not  by  alms-giving,  but  by  making  its 
members  free  and  equal,  and  conferring  upon 
them  unlimited  opportunities  of  acquiring  all 
true  riches.  Hence  it  is  not  the  mission  of 
either  clergy  or  laity,  as  such,  to  collect  and 
distribute  alms ;  nor  should  the  church  build 
"  institutions  of  charity,"  so  called,  thus  assum- 
ing the  burdens  which  God  has  imposed  upon 
the  world  as  a  necessary  and  just  discipline — 
really  condoning  the  sin  and  selfishness  of  the 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  313 

world,  whereby  all  its  social  oppressions  and 
sufferings  have  been  justly  imposed  upon  it, 
and  encouraging  it  to  go  on  in  sin  and  selfish- 
ness that  righteousness  and  charity  may  abound. 
Manifestly  the  redemption  of  the  world  cannot 
be  secured  in  this  way,  any  more  than  Peter 
and  John  could  have  redeemed  this  beggar  by 
tossing  him  a  penny. 

Doubtless  nothing  has  tended  more  to  the 
corruption  and  demoralization  of  the  congrega- 
tions of  the  churches  than  almsgiving — the 
clergy  having  become  professional  beggars  by 
devoting  their  time  chiefly  to  collecting  and  dis- 
tributing money  for  so-called  charitable  pur- 
poses, and  the  laity  becoming  blinded  thereby 
to  real  charity,  as  were  the  Pharisees,  who 
deemed  themselves  righteous  because  they  gave 
tithes  of  all  they  possessed  (Luke  18  :  12),  yet 
binding  heavy  burdens  and  grievous  to  be  borne 
on  men's  shoulders,  which  they  were  unwilling 
to  move  with  one  of  their  fingers  (Matt.  23 :  4). 
Indeed,  while  we  have  been  extremely  zealous 
in  collecting  and  distributing  alms,  we  have 
been  strangely  oblivious  of  the  burdens,  griev- 
ous and  hard  to  be  borne,  that  we  bind  on  men's 
shoulders,  which  we  have  not  striven  to  lift 
with  one  of  our  fingers.  And  those  of  us  who 
are  most  indifferent  to  the  oppressions  of  our 


314  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

fellow-men  are  often  the  most  zealous  in  alms- 
giving— thereby,  no  doubt,  flattering  ourselves 
that  our  alms  atone  for  our  lack  of  real  charity. 
Charity,  as  St.  Paul  affirms,  must  begin  at 
home ;  and  if  one  gives  alms  abroad  while  his 
own  household  is  suffering  he  is  a  hypocrite,  his 
charity  being  such  only  in  pretense.  And  if 
that  person  be  a  member  of  the  church,  he  hath 
denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel 
(Gal.  6 :  10 ;  1  Tim.  5 :  8).  And  as  we  have 
shown  that  the  mission  of  the  church  is  not  for 
the  collection  and  distribution  of  alms,  but  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor,  to  undo  the  heavy 
burdens,  to  open  every  prison  door,  and  let  the 
oppressed  go  free,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  affirm 
that  taking  up  collections  of  any  kind  in  the 
congregation  for  distribution  of  the  common 
necessities  of  life  outside  the  church  is  contrary 
to  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  gospel — rob- 
bing the  faithful  to  supply  the  necessities  of  the 
unfaithful.  What  advantage  is  a  nominal  mem- 
bership in  the  church,  if  its  organization  does 
not  secure  to  each  and  all  members  through 
mutual  protection  and  support  such  competence 
in  temporal  necessities  as  the  combined  riches 
of  all  can  afford  ?  To  promote  a  proper  distri- 
bution of  alms  in  the  world  we  need  only  to  go 
into  politics,  and  as  citizens  of  the  world  apply 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  315 

the  principles  of  the  gospel  to  secure  all  citizens 
in  their  natural  rights,  and  make  such  provisions 
for  the  infirm  as  necessity  may  require.  To  the 
degree  the  congregation  of  the  church  impover- 
ishes itself  in  order  to  relieve  the  world  from 
its  just  burdens,  it  incapacitates  itself  for  ful- 
filling its  own  mission,  which  is  to  furnish  a 
refuge  from  the  evils  of  the  world,  even  as 
heaven  above  is  a  refuge.  It  is  our  ark  of 
safety,  the  fold  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  the 
shadow  of  a  great  Rock  in  a  weary  land,  the 
Family  and  Household  of  God,  in  which  no 
alms  are  collected. 

Its  members,  however,  are  individually,  as 
was  their  Master,  sent  into  the  world  to  bring 
lost  sheep  into  the  heavenly  fold,  that  they  may 
be  saved  from  the  persecutions,  oppressions,  and 
all  other  evils  of  the  world — doing  the  same 
work  the  Christ  did  for  the  world,  but  not  the 
work  of  the  world.  The  world  is  not  saved  by 
easing  it  of  its  just  burdens  and  penalties,  for 
the  gospel  does  not  do  away  with  the  law,  but 
by  bringing  sinners  to  repentance  and  into  the 
fold  of  the  Good  Shepherd.  Hence  the  parting 
instructions  of  the  Christ  to  his  disciples  were, 
not  to  go  out  into  the  world  to  distribute  the 
alms  of  the  congregation  among  the  poor,  but 
to  preach  the  gospel  of  repentance  for  the  re- 


316  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

mission  of  sins,  and  by  baptism  to  bring  them 
in  at  the  Beautiful  Gate. 

All  public  institutions  and  works  for  the  re- 
lief of  the  poor  that  are  of  a  temporal  charac- 
ter and  purpose  only  are  of  the  law — that  is  of 
the  civil  government,  which,  if  rightly  consti- 
tuted, derives  its  authority  wholly  from  the 
principles  of  natural  and  moral  law — and  are 
no  more  of  the  church  than  are  the  courts  of 
justice  and  prison  houses  erected  for  the  pre- 
vention and  punishment  of  vice  and  crime. 
The  church  distributes  to  the  hungry  not  the 
bread  Moses  gave,  but  the  Bread  of  Life  that 
came  down  from  heaven,  which,  if  any  man  eat, 
he  shall  live  forever  (John  6  :  32-35) — although 
her  members,  being  human  beings,  and  subject 
to  natural  laws,  need  food,  and  should  in  nat- 
ural and  lawful  ways  earn  their  living,  accumu- 
late earthly  riches,  and  share  them  equitably 
with  each  other  according  to  their  needs. 

As  the  Church  is  an  example  to  the  world  of 
the  social  polity  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  of  a 
purely  unselfish  social  condition,  and,  though 
furnished  with  gates  for  protection  against  the 
world,  was  established  in  the  world  for  the  sal- 
vation of  the  world,  she  cannot  fulfill  her  mis- 
sion except  she  apply  her  charity  thereto.  In 
fact  this  is  her  mission,  to  redeem  the  world 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  31 7 

from  all  its  social  oppressions  and  sufferings ; 
and  except  she  strive  to  do  this  she  perverts  her 
mission  to  selfish  purposes,  and  becomes  the  bul- 
wark of  social  oppression.  Hence  her  mission- 
aries,— and  all  are  missionaries — sent  into  the 
world  to  preach  the  gospel  of  glad  tidings  of 
obedience,  peace,  and  brotherhood,  must  as 
citizens  of  the  world  become  the  social  leaven 
of  faith,  hope,  and  charity  therein — leaven  hid 
in  three  measures  of  meal  until  the  whole  is 
leavened  ;  grains  of  mustard  seed  growing  into 
the  greatest  of  all  trees ;  treasures  hid  in  the 
field ;  pearls  of  great  price ;  nets  cast  into  the 
sea  (Matt.  13 :  37-48).  By  becoming  members 
and  missionaries  of  the  Church  they  do  not 
cease  to  become  citizens  of  the  world,  and  ex- 
cept they  make  their  Christian  influence  felt  by 
applying  their  Christian  principles  to  the  utmost 
of  their  abilities  in  the  world,  they  cease  to  be 
missionaries  of  the  Church. 

Now  practically  to  apply  our  Christian 
charity  in  the  world  we  should  illustrate  what 
Christian  charity  is  in  our  personal  and  social 
relations  with  our  fellow-men.  We  should 
strive  to  do  better  for  them  than  they  are  doing 
for  themselves  ;  and  though  we  as  citizens  give 
alms  to  relieve  the  immediate  necessities  of  the 
poor,  we  should  at  the  same  time  endeavor  to 


318       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

prevent  the  recurrence  of  such  necessities 
through  our  personal  examples,  and  through 
educational,  business,  and  political  agencies. 
The  mind  should  be  in  us  "  which  was  in  Christ 
Jesus,  who  being  in  the  form  of  God  thought 
it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God,  but  made 
himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon  him 
the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the 
likeness  of  men ;  and  being  found  in  fashion  as 
a  man  he  humbled  himself  and  became  obedi- 
ent unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross  " 
(Phil.  2 :  5-8) ; — suffering  persecution  and 
ignominy,  yet  overcoming  evil  with  good; — 
kind  always,  though  suffering  long ;  undergo- 
ing the  discipline  of  the  law,  yet  fulfilling  the 
same  in  love  ;  tempted  in  all  things  as  we  are, 
yet  without  sin.  We  should  go  out  into  the 
world  as  he  came  into  the  world — cheerfully 
denying  ourselves  as  he  denied  himself,  that  we 
may  give  the  more.  Nor  should  we,  being  in 
the  form  of  God  as  he  was,  think  it  robbery  to 
be  equal  with  him  ;  that  is,  being  his  brethren, 
and  children  together  with  him  in  our  common 
Father's  household,  and  joint  heirs  with  him  in 
his  eternal  inheritance,  we  should  no  longer  re- 
gard ourselves  as  beggars,  but  as  free  and  equal 
in  our  participations  in  the  boundless  riches, 
life,  and  glory  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  (Rom. 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  319 

8 :  15-19).  Yet  being  imperfect  after  the  fash- 
ion of  sinful  men,  we  must  humble  ourselves 
that  we  may  be  exalted,  seeking  no  earthly- 
reputation  or  recompense  for  our  works  of 
charity,  but  making  ourselves  servants  of  men, 
and  unselfishly  devoting  our  lives  to  their  re- 
demption and  well-being. 

With  this  lofty  purpose,  consciousness,  and 
self-respect  which  charity  inspires,  we  can  go 
into  the  world  and  illustrate  in  our  own  lives 
what  true  charity  is,  and  inspire  our  fellow- 
citizens  with  faith  in  God's  power  to  right  all 
wrongs,  and  with  Christian  hope  that  maketh 
not  ashamed.  Being  ourselves  charitable  we 
will  not  grudge,  spite,  or  hate  others  who  are 
richer  or  otherwise  more  fortunate  than  we  ; 
for  u  charity  envieth  not."  Nor  will  we  vainly 
boast  ourselves  in  our  riches,  righteousness,  or 
any  superior  gifts,  honors,  or  personal  endow- 
ments ;  for  "  charity  vaunteth  not  itself,  is  not 
puffed  up."  We  will  not  be  affected,  ostenta- 
tious, haughty,  scornful,  contemptuous,  vulgar, 
or  otherwise  disagreeable ;  for  charity  "  doth 
not  behave  itself  unseemly."  We  will  not  be 
ruled  by  selfish  motives,  or  seek  to  promote  our 
own  interests  to  the  detriment  of  those  of 
others,  covet  another's  possessions,  or  be  un- 
generous or  unjust  in  our  dealings;  for  charity 


320       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

"seeketh  not  her  own."  Not  quarrelsome,  con- 
tentious, resentful;  for  charity  "is  not  easily 
provoked."  Not  illiberal,  cynical,  austere, 
prone  to  construe  good  as  evil,  or  believe  evil 
reports,  bigoted,  harsh,  unforgiving  ;  for  charity 
"  thinketh  no  evil."  We  will  take  no  pleasure 
in  that  others  are  worse  than  we  (Luke  18:  11), 
or  in  anything  mean  in  ourselves,  vicious,  or 
otherwise  evil  and  debasing,  or  in  social  in- 
equalities developed  of  selfishness,  vanity,  and 
the  pride  of  life,  or  in  holding  the  truth  in  un- 
righteousness (Rom.  1 :  18),  in  the  deceivable- 
ness  of  unrighteousness  (2  Thess.  2:  10,  12)  ; 
for  charity  "  rejoiceth  not  in  iniquity,  but  re- 
joiceth  in  the  truth,"  through  love  of  the  truth 
— not  rejecting  it  because  it  is  unpopular  or 
contrary  to  our  selfish  interests  (John  8 :  40, 
45),  nor  regarding  those  who  tell  us  the  truth 
as  our  enemies,  but  as  our  friends  (Gal.  4 :  16). 
We  will  bear  all  things — our  own  and  others' 
burdens  (Rom.  15:  1,  2 ;  Gal.  6:  2,  5);  be- 
lieve all  things — that  whatever  ought  to  be  will 
be,  and  that  truth,  justice,  and  mercy  are 
always  practical  and  expedient;  hope  all 
things — confident  that  whatever  ought  to  be, 
whatever  God  has  promised,  and  for  which  we 
aspire  in  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  will  surely  come 
to  pass;  endure  all  things — as  well  we  may 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  321 

through  the  power  of  Infinite  Omnipotent  Love, 
whereby  all  things  are  made  to  work  for  our 
good  (Rom.  8  :  28),  disciplines  (Heb.  12 :  7), 
afflictions  (2  Tim.  4 :  5),  persecutions  (1  Pet. 
2  :  19),  temptations  (Jas.  1 :  12),  contradictions 
(Heb.  12 :  2,  3),  and  even  fools  gladly,  seeing 
we  ourselves  are  wise  (2  Cor.  11 :  19). 

But  as  love  and  hate  are  necessarily  involved, 
loving  what  is  good  being  hating  what  is  evil, 
and  hating  what  is  evil  loving  what  is  good  (Ps. 
97:  10;  Prov.  8:  3;  Eccl.  3:8;  Matt.  6: 
24 ;  1  John  2  :  15),  the  degree  of  our  power  to 
love  is  always  the  measure  of  our  power  to 
hate,  and  our  power  to  hate  the  measure  of  our 
power  to  love  (Heb.  1 :  9).  Thus  we  cannot 
feel  love  toward  our  enemies  except  we  hate 
their  malice,  or  for  the  sinner,  except  we  loathe 
his  sins.  That  is,  the  more  our  charity  hates 
sin,  the  more  will  it  strive  to  cleanse  us  and 
our  fellow-men  therefrom.  Being  practical  and 
aggressive,  it  cannot  be  simply  sentimental  and 
passive. 

Hence,  while  always  loving,  it  never  loves 
that  which  is  neither  lovable  nor  can  be  made 
lovable,  but  always  loathes  and  hates  it ;  while 
always  liberal,  it  is  never  licentious,  never  in- 
dulges itself  or  others  in  indifference  to  duty, 
or  in  any  dissipation  or  thriftlessness  (Isa.  32 : 


322  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

5,  6) ;  while  always  kind,  it  is  yet  full  of  wrath 
against  all  meanness,  selfishness,  injustice,  and 
cruelty  (2  Sam.  12  :  9,  10 ;  Ps.  7:11;  Eph. 
4 :  26) ;  while  always  pitiful  and  forgiving,  it 
never  condones  offences,  or  forgives  the  unre- 
pentant or  unforgiving  (Matt.  6:  14,  15;  18: 
32-35).  While  always  helpful,  it  never  helps 
those  who  can  but  will  not  help  themselves 
(Mark  6:5;  Gal.  6  :  7;  2  Thess.  3  :  10)  ;  and 
while  always  merciful,  it  is  never  unjust  (Ps. 
59 :  5 ;  Mich.  6:8;  Rom.  6  :  12). 

Such  was  the  charity,  better  than  silver  and 
gold,  that  Peter  and  John,  as  apostles  and  min- 
isters of  the  Church,  practically  applied  to  the 
redemption  of  this  beggar.  And  the  first 
thing  they  did,  after  fixing  their  eyes  on  him. 
and  bidding  him  look  on  them,  was  to  take  him 
by  the  hand,  thus  condescending  to  one  of  low 
estate  (Rom.  12:  16) — not  with  pretentious 
self-abasement,  nor  patronizingly,  yet  with  the 
manly  consciousness  of  their  superiority  and 
power  in  God,  with  unselfish  desire  to  lift  him 
up  to  their  own  high  level,  and  to  confer  upon 
him  equal  opportunities  and  privileges  with 
themselves.  There  is  as  great  a  difference  be- 
tween real  and  affected  humility  as  between 
practical  charity  and  conventional  alms-giving, 
or  between  prayers  and  confessions  in  the 


APPLIED  CHARITY.  32$ 

spirit,  and  those  which  are  such  only  in  the  let- 
ter (Luke  18 :  10-14). 

There  are  many  preachers  who,  in  order  to 
reach,  as  they  say,  the  common  people,  make 
themselves  really  vulgar  and  mean — pandering 
to  ignorance,  prejudice,  conceit,  superstition,  or 
love  of  sensation.  And  on  the  other  hand 
there  are  others  who  stand  aloof  from  the  mul- 
titude, or  if  they  come  in  contact  with  them, 
touch  them  only  with  gloved  fingers,  preach 
over  their  heads,  and  seek  by  their  social  re- 
serve and  conventional  pietisms  to  inspire  a 
superstitious  awe  and  veneration  for  themselves 
and  the  church.  But  neither  of  these  methods 
is  a  practical  way  of  applying  charity — is  not 
that  true  humility  that  exalts,  nor  that  pure 
unselfishness  which  beareth  all  things,  hopeth 
all  things,  endureth  all  things.  To  really  show 
that  we  love  the  poor  we  must  take  them  by 
the  hand,  help  them  to  rise  and  stand  on  their 
own  feet,  and  lead  them  in  at  the  Beautiful 
Gate.  Such  contact  will  not  debase  us,  nor  the 
poor,  but  will  glorify  us  and  them.  With  this 
motive  the  Christ  did  not  hesitate  to  touch 
even  lepers,  or  permit  a  woman  who  was  a  sin- 
ner to  wash  his  feet ;  and  Paul,  when  bitten  by 
a  viper,  shook  it  off  and  received  no  harm.  In 
fact  charity's  sole  purpose  is  to  help  the  poor  to 


324  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

rise,  heal  all  their  infirmities,  bring  them  up  to 
its  own  social  level,  and  lead  them  in  with  it- 
self at  the  heavenly  Gate.  This  is  the  very 
best  that  man  or  God  can  do — to  give  any  and 
every  person  the  opportunity  and  means  of 
helping  himself  to  the  utmost  of  his  abilities 
and  desires, — and  this  is  the  end  of  the  law  for 
righteousness.  It  removed,  so  far  as  this  beg- 
gar was  concerned,  all  necessity  of  beggary, 
thereby  delivering  him  from  the  bondage  of  the 
law  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God. 
Nor  is.it  possible  for  us  to  fulfill  the  law  in  love 
in  any  other  way ;  for  otherwise — if  we  attempt 
to  fulfill  the  law  in  love  by  alms-giving  only — 
we  but  return  to  the  weak  and  beggarly  ele- 
ments of  the  world  and  our  righteousness  does 
not  exceed  that  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees. 

Doubtless  there  are  now,  as  there  were  in  the 
times  of  the  apostles,  a  great  many  beggars  and 
other  social  parasites,  who  may  be  immediately 
redeemed  by  taking  them  by  the  hand  and  lift- 
ing them  up  in  the  name  and  power  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Nazareth.  That  is,  there  are  many 
that  will  respond  to  such  charity  with  faith, 
hope,  and  personal  effort  to  help  themselves,  re- 
ceive strength  to  stand  upon  their  feet,  walk 
and  leap,  and  enter  in  at  the  gate  of  the  church, 
wherein  is  social  redemption ;  but  most  prefer 


APPLIED  CHARITY.  325 

silver  and  gold,  and  are  unwilling  to  put  forth 
proper  efforts  to  work  out  their  own  salvation, 
and  can  only  be  brought  to  redemption  through 
the  disciplinary  processes  of  the  law.  Hence 
Christian  men  and  women  must  go  out  into  the 
world — into  the  highways  and  hedges — and 
compel  them  to  come  in  (Luke  14 :  23).  And 
doubtless  as  citizens  of  a  common  country  we 
can,  through  the  impartiality  and  unselfishness 
of  our  Christian  character,  exert  a  far  greater 
influence  than  others  in  the  reformation  and  en- 
forcement of  the  civil  laws,  whereby  social 
burdens  and  privileges  may  be  equalized,  and 
all  individuals  and  classes  be  persuaded  or  com- 
pelled to  pay  their  just  debts,  and  discharge 
their  just  duties  to  society.  Indeed,  the  chief 
cause  of  the  present  inefficiency  of  the  church 
in  the  practical  application  of  charity  to  the  so- 
lution of  social  problems — to  the  prevention  and 
elimination  of  beggary,  dissipation  and  crime, 
and  the  equitable  distribution  of  wealth — is  its 
indisposition  to  enter  in  and  impart  the  leaven 
of  the  gospel  to  our  political  institutions — to 
the  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive  depart- 
ments. The  chief  leaven  of  the  whole  body 
politic  is  now  selfishness,  whereas  that  of  the 
true  church  is  charity ;  and  manifestly,  if  any 
individual  professing  to  be  Christian  and  striv- 


326       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

ing  to  fulfill  the  mission  of  the  Christ  in  the 
world,  does  not  to  the  degree  of  his  possible  in- 
fluence impart  thereto  the  leaven  of  unselfish- 
ness, his  profession  is  vain  and  hypocritical ;  he 
becomes  a  traitor  to  his  trust,  and  betrays  his 
Master — a  blind  watchman,  blinded  through  his 
own  selfishness  to  social  inequities  and  oppres- 
sions, a  dumb  dog  that  cannot  bark  at  political 
thieves  and  robbers  through  its  own  greed  and 
dishonesty  (Isa.  56 :  9-11).  Nor  can  it  be  de- 
nied that  our  legislative  halls  abound  with  such 
men — lawmakers  who  profess  to  be  Christians, 
and  are  often  very  zealous  workers  in  the 
churches,  but  who  are  merely  political  partisans, 
demagogues,  tricksters,  jingoes,  and  pedants, 
and  seemingly  totally  lacking  in  real  states- 
manship or  in  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  of  peace 
and  brotherhood. 

But  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  proper 
application  of  charity  to  the  redemption  of  the 
world  is  very  different  in  its  methods  from  its 
application  to  the  regulation  of  our  social  re- 
lations with  each  other  in  the  church ;  although 
it  is  in  either  case  the  expression  of  the  same 
unselfish  love — else  it  would  degenerate  into  a 
morbid  and  inefficient  pity,  or  piety,  that  con- 
dones and  excuses  offences,  and  encourages 
more  than  it  represses  sin  and  selfishness.  The 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  327 

true  spirit  of  the  law  is  love,  and  its  enforce- 
ment is  a  work  of  love ;  and  if  we  fail  to  en- 
force it,  when  moral  suasion  fails,  we  are  lack- 
ing in  love.  The  Christ  did  not  come  to  destroy 
the  law;  but  if  we  fail  to  enforce  it,  we  destroy 
it,  and  our  charity,  like  the  law,  is  also  dead. 
As  a  wise  father — and  no  father  is  wise  who  is 
not  also  loving — chasteneth  his  disobedient 
children,  so  our  heavenly  Father  chasteneth  us, 
and  to  this  end  has  established  the  law  (Deut. 
8:  5,  6;  Heb.  12:  5-10;  Rev.  3:  19).  Applied 
to  the  church,  love  is  the  practical  realization 
of  Fatherhood  in  God  and  Brotherhood  in  Man. 
Applied  to  the  world,  it  is  the  culture  through 
faith  and  hope  of  promises  not  yet  realized,  and 
the  enforcement  of  the  moral  law. 

While,  therefore,  in  the  true  church,  in  which 
all  members  are  disposed  to  do  what  is  right,  in 
conscience  sensitive  to  dishonor,  we  should  bear 
with  each  other's  infirmities,  neither  resisting 
evil  nor  returning  evil  for  evil — our  effort  being 
to  fulfill  the  law  in  love,  and  not  by  compul- 
sion, not  requiring  an  eye  for  an  eye  or  a  tooth 
for  a  tooth,  but  returning  good  for  evil, — yet  in 
the  world,  so  far  as  men  are  indisposed  to  ful- 
fill the  law  in  love,  and  evil  cannot  be  over- 
come with  good,  it  is  our  duty  to  enforce  the 
law ;  and  if  we  fail  to  enforce  it,  we  are  un- 


328  THE   GATE   CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

merciful  and  unjust.  That  is,  the  same  spirit 
of  non-resistance  in  the  church  is  the  spirit  of 
resistance  in  the  world— even  as  the  love  of 
God  becomes  a  consuming  fire  of  righteous  in- 
dignation and  wrath  to  all  persistent  and  unre- 
pentant transgressors  of  his  laws  (Deut.  4 :  24 ; 
Heb.  12 :  29).  While  it  is  the  imperative  duty 
of  the  Christian  to  forgive  all  repentant  trans- 
gressors, and  also  to  give  space  for  repentance, 
he  but  condones  and  encourages  transgressions 
if  he  forgives  those  who  will  not  repent. 
Hence,  when  we  pray,  as  the  Christ  prayed, 
that  God  may  forgive  our  enemies,  we  properly 
mean  that  they  may  be  brought  to  repentance ; 
for  otherwise  we  should  ask  God  to  condone 
their  offences — as  if  he  were  capricious,  and 
himself  tolerant  of  evil.  No  more  striking  illus- 
trations of  the  wrath  of  God  are  presented  in 
the  Bible  than  in  the  example  of  the  Christ  in 
the  awful  anathemas  he  pronounced  upon  all 
men  wilfully  blinded  through  selfishness  to 
their  own  uncharitableness  and  personal  mean- 
ness of  character  (Matt.  13:  41,  42;  18:  6,  7; 
25:  41;  Luke  6:  24-26;  10:  13-15;  16:  23,24). 
When  in  the  temple  he  found  those  who  sold 
oxen,  sheep,  and  doves,  and  the  changers  of 
money,  he  made  a  scourge  of  small  cords,  and 
drove  out  the  oxen  and  sheep,  poured  out  the 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  329 

money  of  the  money-changers,  and  overthrew 
their  tables,  and  said  unto  those  who  sold 
doves,  "Take  these  things  hence"  (John  2: 
14-16). 

No  Christian  man,  under  the  law, — and  all 
are  under  the  law  as  Jesus  was  in  his  earthly 
ministry — will  voluntarily  submit  to  evil,  but 
will,  as  in  duty  bound  to  do,  resist  it  in  defence 
of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  men,  will  freely 
use  the  scourge  for  the  repression  of  every  form 
of  unrighteousness,  else  he  would  not  be  a 
moral  man  and  a  good  citizen  of  the  State — 
howbeit  he  will  willingly  submit,  as  his  Master 
did,  to  any  sacrifice,  even  of  life  itself,  needful 
to  the  promotion  of  the  well-being  of  his  fellow- 
men.  Thus  Jesus,  though  he  could  have  called 
to  his  defence  more  than  twelve  legions  of  an- 
gels (Matt.  26 :  53,  54),  yet  that  the  scriptures 
might  be  fulfilled  concerning  him — that  is,  that 
he  might  fulfill  his  mission  of  unselfish  sacri- 
fice— suffered  himself  to  he  despised  and  re- 
jected of  men,  a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted 
with  grief,  to  be  wounded  for  our  transgres- 
sions, and  made  to  bear  our  iniquities,  not 
opening  his  mouth,  but  suffering  himself  to  be 
led  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter — thus  voluntarily 
undergoing  this  needful  sacrifice  in  his  conflicts 
with  sinful  men.  He  could  also  have  armed 


330  THE  GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

his  followers  with  carnal  weapons  and  have  re- 
sisted the  officers  of  the  law,  yet  forbade  Peter 
to  use  the  sword  (John  18:  10,  11);  for  other- 
wise— had  he  not  drunk  the  cup  his  Father  had 
given  him  to  drink,  not  been  tempted  in  all 
things  as  we  are  tempted,  not  been  formed  in 
fashion  as  a  man,  not  humbled  as  we  are  hum- 
bled, nor  obedient  unto  death  as  we  finite,  im- 
perfect, and  sinful  mortals  must  necessarily  be 
— he  could  not  have  been  an  example  we  could 
follow.  That  is,  more  would  have  been  re- 
quired of  us  than  he  himself  was  willing  to  en- 
dure, and  he  would  have  avoided  the  trials  we 
in  our  weakness  are  compelled  to  endure.  He 
did  not  come  into  the  world  to  teach  us  what 
he  could  do  for  himself,  but  what  we  can  do  for 
ourselves  in  enduring  and  overcoming  evil,  and 
in  securing  the  favor  and  help  of  God  through 
faith,  hope,  and  charity.  He  could  through  his 
superior  knowledge  and  power  have  escaped  the 
persecutions  of  his  enemies,  and  all  other  evils 
incident  to  this  earthly  life,  but  he  could  not 
have  fulfilled  his  mission  otherwise  than  by 
voluntarily  suffering  what  we  are  compelled  to 
suffer  through  our  sinfulness  and  consequent 
weakness,  and  what  cannot  be  removed  except 
through  the  discipline  of  the  law,  and  our  vol- 
untary fulfillment  thereof  in  love. 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  331 

Having  therefore,  put  himself  precisely  in 
our  place,  the  Christ  did  not  use  superhuman 
force  to  defend  himself,  but  used  carnal  weapons 
to  enforce  the  law  to  the  extent  we  can  use 
them  to  defend  ourselves  and  others  by  the  en- 
forcement of  just  laws,  and  so  far  as  they  can 
be  made  available  to  promote  the  well-being  of 
society.  And  they  can  be  made  available  so 
far  as  our  motive  is  true  charity  ;  that  is,  so  far 
as  love  inspires  hatred  of  oppression,  and  en- 
kindles wrath  against  all  injustice,  selfishness, 
and  sin,  but  no  farther.  As  a  rule,  those  who 
take  the  sword  perish  with  the  sword  (Matt. 
26 :  52)  ; — that  is,  those  who  rely  upon  the 
sword  to  promote  and  progagate  the  principles 
of  the  gospel  of  the  Christ — to  establish  true 
liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity — will  sacrifice 
their  lives  in  vain,  such  liberty,  equality,  and 
fraternity  being  only  possible  of  attainment  in 
the  practice  of  mutual  reconciliation  and  love — 
though  the  sword  may  and  should  be  used  in 
defence  of  the  gospel,  and  in  the  enforcement 
of  just  laws,  when  the  sword  that  proceedeth 
out  of  the  mouth  fails.  Hence,  when  Jesus 
was  arrested,  and  his  disciples  inquired  "Lord 
shall  we  smite  with  the  sword  ?  "  he  replied, 
"Suffer  ye  thus  far"  (Luke  22:  49-51),  "The 
cup  which  my  Father  hath  given  me  shall  I  not 


332  THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

drink  ?  "  (John  18 :  11) ;  yet  only  a  moment  be- 
fore he  had  said,  "  He  that  hath  no  sword,  let 
him  sell  his  garment  and  buy  one  "  (Luke  22  : 
36  ;  Rom.  13  :  4). 

While,  therefore,  in  teaching  us  what  we  can 
do,  he  did  not  often  use  carnal  weapons, — 
never,  in  fact,  in  the  promulgation  of  his  gospel 
(2  Cor.  10 :  3-6) — yet  we  greatly  err  if  we  sup- 
pose charity  to  be  wholly  peaceful,  and  cry, 
"  Peace,  peace,  when  there  is  no  peace  "  (Jer. 
6:  14;  Matt.  10:  34),  for  such  charity,  like 
faith  without  works,  would  be  dead — cowardly, 
selfish,  and  shiftless;  or  that  when  he  coun- 
seled his  disciples  not  to  resist  evil  he  enun- 
ciated a  principle  applicable  to  a  sinful  world, 
and  practicable  in  a  society  necessarily  subject 
to  the  bondage  of  the  law,  which  by  command 
of  God  requires  an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth 
for  a  tooth.  Thus  to  condemn  mob  violence, 
and  yet  do  nothing  to  right  the  wrongs  of  our 
fellow-men  enslaved  to  the  mammon  of  un- 
righteousness, is  to  cry,  Peace,  peace,  when 
there  is  no  peace,  and  renders  us  partakers  in 
the  guilt  and  cruelty  of  the  oppressor.  What 
God  is  in  the  Church  such  also  is  he  in  the 
world,  without  variableness  or  shadow  of  turn- 
ing— always  loving,  merciful,  and  just — and 
this  invariableness  requires  that  he  should  deal 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  333 

differently  with  men  in  their  different  relations 
to  him.  When  men,  though  still  imperfect,  are 
believers  in  his  gospel  of  peace  and  mutual 
reconciliation,  and  are  striving  to  dwell  to- 
gether in  accordance  with  such  principles,  he 
counsels  them  not  to  resist  evil,  but  to  over- 
come evil  with  good — that  when  one  smites  us 
on  the  cheek  we  should  turn  the  other  also ; 
for  by  such  example  any  person  who  is  striving 
to  live  in  obedience  to  the  gospel  will  be  led  to 
repent,  and  seek  forgiveness  from  us  for  the  in- 
jury he  has  done.  But  in  the  world,  when  men 
are  indifferent  to  the  gospel,  or  enemies  thereof, 
he  requires  all  men  who  wilfully  and  persist- 
ently transgress  his  laws  to  be  punished. 
Surely,  the  Christ  does  not  require  us  to  do 
differently  from  what  his  Father  in  Heaven 
would  do. 

Indeed  it  would  be  extreme  cruelty  to  require 
us  to  submit  unnecessarily  to  any  injustice — al- 
though we  should  be  willing  to  endure  any 
sacrifice  needful  for  the  promotion  of  the  well- 
being  of  men.  Thus  it  is  an  error  to  suppose 
God  sent  his  Son  into  the  world  with  the  in- 
tent that  he  should  be  put  to  death,  for  his  sole 
purpose  was  that  the  world  through  him  might 
be  saved — howbeit,  because  of  the  wickedness 
of  the  world,  he  knew  that  Jesus  would  be  put 


334  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

to  death.  So  also  he  sends  us  into  the  world 
to  preach  and  teach  by  our  example  the  princi- 
ples of  the  gospel,  and  to  endure  all  persecu- 
tions and  sacrifices  requisite  to  the  fulfillment 
of  our  mission.  But  he  does  not  require  us  to 
endure  evil  needlessly — to  cast  pearls  to  swine 
which  trample  them  in  the  mire,  and  then  turn 
and  rend  us  (Prov.  9 :  7-9 ;  Matt.  7:6;  Acts 
13 :  45,  46).  Indeed  the  Christ  expressly  re- 
quires us  to  withdraw  our  peace  from  those 
who  will  not  receive  us,  and  to  shake  off  their 
dust  from  our  feet,  for  it  will  be  more  tolerable 
for  the  people  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in  the 
day  of  judgment  than  for  them  (Matt.  10: 
13-15 ;  Acts  13 :  51).  Withdrawing  our  peace 
from  any  man  is  leaving  him  to  be  dealt  with 
according  to  the  law ;  and  as  we  are  citizens  of 
the  State,  and  under  the  law,  we  must  deal 
with  him  as  the  law  requires.  Even  a  member 
of  the  church  when  excommunicated,  is  de- 
livered to  the  discipline  of  the  law  (Matt.  18 : 
17).  So  also  all  persons  who  deal  unjustly 
(Matt.  18 :  23-35).  Hence,  so  far  from  teach- 
ing that  his  gospel  is  wholly  peaceful,  the 
Christ  requires  us  to  resist  and  punish  evil 
doers  who  cannot  be  brought  to  repentance  by 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel  (Matt.  22 :  2-15). 
While,  therefore,  in  the  church  we  may  have 


APPLIED  CHARITY.  335 

peace,  in  the  world  we  must  have  tribulations 
(John  16 :  33).  While  in  the  church  we  may 
be  free  from  any  obligations  of  dut}',  debt,  or 
sacrifice,  yet  in  the  world  we  are  subject  to  all 
obligations  the  law  imposes  upon  us ;  and  if  we 
seek  to  avoid  such  obligations  by  pleading  our 
Christian  principle  of  non-resistajice  to  evil,  or 
that,  being  Christians,  we  have  no  right  to 
meddle  with  politics,  we  cease  to  be  Christians; 
for  our  mission,  like  that  of  the  Christ,  is  to 
the  world.  To  pay  taxes  to  Caesar  and  to 
render  unto  him  the  things  that  are  his,  is  to 
make,  obey,  and  enforce  just  laws.  In  this  way 
only — by  becoming  Christians,  and  at  the  same 
time  discharging  our  debts  to  the  world — can 
we  render  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are 
Caesar's  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are 
God's,  and  overcome  the  world  (John  16 :  33). 
The  church  on  earth  is  militant,  all  true  mem- 
bers being  soldiers  of  Christ,  taking  to  them- 
selves "  the  whole  armor  of  God,"  which  neces- 
sarily includes  the  moral  law,  that  they  may 
"  wrestle  against  principalities,  against  powers, 
against  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world, 
against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places  " — 
though  we  wrestle  not  with  flesh  and  blood,  as 
does  "  the  warrior  with  confused  noise,  and 
garments  rolled  with  blood,"  but  "  with  burn- 


336        THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

ing  and  fuel  of  fire  "  (Isa.  9 :  5), — with  impas- 
sioned love  of  righteousness,  and  the  burning 
and  fuel  of  wrath  and  hatred  against  all  in- 
justice and  oppression.  While  the  sword  of 
the  gospel  is  a  spiritual  weapon,  and  proceedeth 
out  of  the  mouth  (Rev.  1:  16),  that  of  the  law 
is  carnal,  and  ,used  for  discipline,  punishment, 
and  compulsion  (1  Chron.  21 :  16  ;  Rom.  13  :  4). 

True  charity,  therefore,  applied  to  the  world, 
is  that  which  is  sustained  by  a  stern  sense  of 
justice,  an  unfaltering  moral  courage  to  do  and  to 
dare  whatever  God  requires,  and  while  it  loves 
God  with  all  its  heart,  soul,  and  mind,  and  its 
neighbor  as  itself,  beareth,  believeth,  hopeth, 
endureth  all  things,  and  is  kind,  it  yet  hates  all 
injustice,  cruelty,  and  oppression  with  equal  in- 
tensity, passion,  and  persistency.  Being  in 
fact  the  impersonation,  word,  and  expression  of 
God  who  is  Love  Itself,  it  like  him  uses  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit  that  proceedeth  out  of  the 
mouth,  but  when  that  fails  to  bring  men  to  re- 
pentance, it  uses  also  the  sword  of  resistance, 
discipline,  and  punishment. 

Now  if  men  are  not  in  the  Church  they  are 
under  the  law,  or  otherwise  at  the  mercy  of  the 
mob,  which  has  no  sense  of  mercy  or  justice. 
And,  since  as  has  been  shown,  it  is  impossible 
to  be  free  under  the  law — it  having  been  es- 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  337 

tablished  because  of  our  offences,  whereby  it 
became  necessary  to  place  us  under  duress — it 
is  plain  that  through  the  charity  of  the  gospel 
only,  whereby  men  are  led  to  willing  obedience 
to  God,  can  they  become  free  from  the  bond- 
age of  the  law.  Yet  the  bondage  of  the  law 
may  be  lightened  to  the  degree  the  law  is 
leavened  with  the  spirit  of  the  gospel ;  and  to 
the  degree  the  Christian  is  under  the  law,  so 
may  the  men  of  the  world  be  brought  under 
the  influence  of  the  gospel,  and  in  time  both 
the  law  and  the  gospel  become  one  in  God  (1 
Cor.  15  :  28).  Hence,  for  the  promotion  of  our 
own  freedom  in  the  world,  as  well  as  that  of 
others,  must  we  strive  so  to  apply  our  charity  to 
the  world  as  will  promote  liberty,  equality,  and 
fraternity.  The  Christian  life  is  a  warfare,  a 
struggle  for  liberation  and  escape  from  the 
cruel  bondage  of  social  and  political  oppression 
— from  the  Pharaohs  of  the  world — and  is  a 
journey  through  the  wilderness,  wherein  are 
fiery  serpents  and  scorpions  and  drought  (Deut. 
8 :  15),  in  which  great  and  mighty  kingdoms  of 
this  world  are  to  be  subdued  or  blotted  out. 
And  so  long  as  there  are  inequities  in  the  world 
must  this  conflict  be  continued,  and  perfect 
freedom  and  peace  be  impossible  of  realization. 
And  finally,  it  being  manifestly  true,  that 


338  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

practically  to  apply  our  Christian  charity  to  the 
world,  we  must  strive  to  give  every  man  an 
equal  chance  with  his  fellow-men  for  improve- 
ment in  his  social  conditions  and  relations — of 
increase  in  health,  knowledge,  wealth,  happi- 
ness, and  power, — we  must,  in  accordance  with 
the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  natural  and  moral 
laws  of  God,  endeavor  to  the  utmost  of  our 
power  to  persuade,  and  so  far  as  is  necessary  to 
compel,  all  men  to  obey  such  laws.  And  to 
this  end  we  must  so  modify,  improve,  and  en- 
force our  civil  laws — abolishing  some  and  en- 
acting others — as  will  secure  equal  opportuni- 
ties of  social  redemption  to  all  citizens  ;  for,  as 
previously  shown,  it  would  be  vain  and  hypo- 
critical to  attempt  to  inspire  Christian  hope 
without  at  the  same  time  striving  to  give  the 
poor  and  oppressed  the  means  and  opportunity 
of  realizing  such  hope.  In  fact,  it  is  otherwise 
impossible  practically  to  possess  and  apply  char- 
ity, which  is  the  fruitage  of  hope.  But  it  is  of 
course  impossible,  within  the  limits  of  this 
work,  to  define  very  much  in  detail  what  true 
charity  requires  in  the  way  of  legislation. 
The  gospel  sets  before  us  the  mark  to  which 
we  should  press  forward,  forgetting  the  things 
which  are  past — the  mark  being  the  true  ideal 
of  social  life  in  the  Church  of  Christ — yet  at 


APPLIED  CHARITY.  339 

the  same  time  requires  us  to  work  out  our  own 
salvation  in  the  fear  and  by  the  help  of  God 
(Phil.  2 :  12,  13),  meeting  and  overcoming  all 
difficulties  in  our  path  as  they  arise.  We  can, 
however,  on  the  authority  of  the  law  and  the 
gospel,  define  in  a  measure,  as  we  have  already 
done  in  previous  parts  of  this  work,  what  our 
objective  purpose  should  be,  and  how  the  ob- 
stacles which  now  confront  us  may  be  over- 
come. 

Doubtless  the  most  serious  obstacle  which  the 
Christian  citizen  encounters  in  his  efforts  to 
apply  practically  the  charity  of  the  gospel,  is 
the  world's  love  of  money,  its  devotion  to  the 
Golden  Calf, — which,  even  though  we  hate,  we 
are  compelled  to  worship,  to  "  the  world,  the 
flesh  and  the  devil,"  personified  in  the  Scarlet 
Woman,  by  whom  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
earth  have  been  made  drunk  with  the  wine  of 
her  fornication  (Rev.  17).  And  this  idolatry 
and  fornication  is  equally  manifest  among  rich 
and  poor,  the  uncrowned  millionaire  princes 
and  kings  of  society  (12),  and  its  professional 
beggars,  prodigals,  and  thieves. 

Now  we  need  not  be  led  into  a  lengthy  dis- 
cussion of  what  money  is — except  to  say  that 
it  is  primarily  intended,  as  a  matter  of  conven- 
ience, to  be  a  medium  of  exchange,  and  as  such 


340  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

is  harmless,  but  has  become  in  fact  an  object  of 
idolatry,  cupidity  and  worldliness,  and,  though 
intrinsically  of  little  or  no  value  or  necessity, 
has  by  our  corrupted  art  been  made  to  represent 
the  highest  values  of  life,  and  become  an  abso- 
lute necessity  to  our  existence — representing  in 
fact  an  arrogancy  of  authority  superior  to  that 
of  God;  not  only  assuming  power  to  represent 
the  inalienable  rights  and  possessions  he  alone 
can  bestow,  but  also  to  traffic  therein,  and  to 
purchase  or  sell  titles  thereto  according  to  the 
caprices,  passions,  and  cupidities  of  finite  and 
selfish  men. 

As  the  love  of  money  is  a  root  of  all  evil,  it 
is  impossible  to  overcome  all  evils  except  this 
root  be  exterminated — or  indeed  any  evil ;  for 
if  otherwise  any  social  evil  be  temporarily  sup- 
pressed, from  the  same  root  it  will  be  reproduced, 
and  will  become  an  endless  succession  of  evils. 
Being  artificially  made  the  primary  interest  and 
necessity,  money  subjects  all  other  interests  to 
itself,  so  that  society  becomes  utterly  enslaved 
thereby  and  thereto.  Representing  all  values, 
it  concentrates  all  values  in  itself,  and  monopo- 
lizes all  interests  and  necessities.  And  having 
monopolized  all  interests  and  necessities,  it  per- 
petuates such  monopolies  by  civil  laws,  so-called, 
which,  though  directly  in  conflict  with  the  spirit 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  341 

of  natural  and  moral  laws,  are  craftily,  arro- 
gantly, and  hypocritically  claimed  to  represent 
in  themselves  the  supreme  authority  of  divine 
law. 

But  it  is  of  course  the  love  of  money,  not 
money  itself,  that  is  a  root  of  all  evils.  The 
golden  calf  is  harmless  if  not  made  an  object 
of  worship.  Hence,  if  the  love  of  money  be 
suppressed,  money  may  still  be  used,  as  a  con- 
venient medium  of  exchange  without  detriment 
to  society.  Nor  is  it  money  that  develops  the 
love  of  money,  nor  the  golden  calf  that  develops 
the  worship  thereof,  it  being  a  senseless  thing 
incapable  of  responding  to  or  inspiring  love  or 
worship,  but  the  selfishness,  cupidity  and  world- 
liness  of  sinful  men,  who  arbitrarily  affix  ficti- 
tious values  thereto,  and  confer  upon  it  unnat- 
ural powers,  thereby  converting  its  convenience 
into  the  opportunity  of  acquiring  exclusive  and 
unrighteous  privileges,  immunities  and  impuni- 
ties. 

But  while  no  argument  is  needed  to  prove 
that  the  gifts  of  God  cannot  be  purchased  with 
money,  or  that  a  golden  calf  cannot  listen  to  or 
grant  our  prayers,  it  is  yet  a  fact  that  Satan, 
the  Father  of  lies  (John  8  :  44),  otherwise  de- 
fined as  the  "  Mammon  of  Unrighteousness," 
the  Demon  of  Human  Avarice  personified,  can 


342  THE   GATE   CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

and  does  for  a  time  possess  all  the  kingdoms  of 
the  earth,  and  confer  them  upon  those  who  fall 
down  and  worship  him  (Matt.  4 :  8,  9).  And 
this  he  does  by  perverting,  through  our  igno- 
rance or  selfish  cupidity,  our  natural  and  in- 
stinctive perceptions  of  what  is  just  and  right, 
so  that  what  is  unjust  and  wrong  appears  to  be 
right.  Thus  it  is  manifestly  just  and  right  that 
we  should  obey  the  higher  powers  (Rom.  13  :  1- 
4) — it  being  understood  that  such  powers  are 
ministers  of  God  for  our  good,  all  authority  be- 
ing derived  from  God, — yet  if  such  higher 
powers  are  themselves  selfish,  they  are  ministers 
for  good  only  in  seeming  ;  are  in  fact  tyrants, 
and  ministers  of  evil,  although  their  authority 
may  seem  to  be  genuine,  derived  of  God,  and 
even  the  laws  they  enact  and  enforce  be  just 
and  righteous  in  the  letter,  though  administered 
in  the  spirit  of  selfishness  and  cupidity. 
Doubtless  it  is  right,  for  example,  that  the 
highest  authority  in  the  nation  should  coin  and 
issue  money  so  far  as  the  convenience  and  ne- 
cessity of  the  people  require  in  the  interchange 
of  useful  commodities,  but  it  has  no  right  to 
endow  it  with  unnatural  prerogatives  and 
powers.  To  be  sure  it  is  a  senseless  and  harm- 
less thing  in  itself,  as  is  a  golden  calf,  and  for 
this  reason  cannot  itself  be  held  responsible  for 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  343 

the  evils  it  evolves  and  develops,  but  if  used, 
as  a  knife  in  the  murderer's  hand,  to  rob  men 
of  their  natural  and  inalienable  rights  of  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness, — to  de- 
prive them  of  the  free  use  of  earth,  water,  air, 
sunshine,  and  even  of  their  own  personal  en- 
dowments and  faculties  of  body  and  mind, 
which  God  bestows  equally  upon  all  men,  even 
to  compel  them  to  neglect  and  violate  all  his 
natural,  moral,  and  spiritual  laws,  and  to  forego 
and  repress  all  natural  hopes  and  aspirations 
for  improvements — it  becomes  an  instrument  in 
the  Unrighteous  Mammon's  hand  for  the  con- 
summation of  all  villainies  and  crimes.  Indeed 
no  person  or  government  can  have  any  just 
right  to  possess  or  do  anything  in  the  spirit  of 
selfishness,  however  otherwise  observant  he  may 
be  of  the  letter  of  the  laws  of  God;  for  the 
true  spirit  of  all  such  laws  is  mercy,  justice,  and 
charity.  And  while  every  man  has  a  natural 
right  to  do  what  he  will  with  his  own,  yet  as 
all  are  social  beings,  and  no  one  can  live  unto 
himself  alone,  no  individual  or  class,  can  right- 
fully do  or  possess  anything  at  all,  exclusive  of 
or  prejudicial  to,  the  rights  and  best  interests  of 
his  fellow-men. 

As  God's  gifts  cannot  be  rightfully  alienated 
except  by  misuse  thereof  in  violation  of  God's 


344  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

laws,  the  Government — which  is  the  agency  of 
God,  and  the  custodian  of  his  gifts  for  their 
just  and  equal  distribution  among  the  people — 
cannot  rightfully  make  them  alienable,  or  per- 
mit them  to  become  articles  of  traffic  by  esti- 
mating their  value  by  a  standard  of  gold  or 
silver.  This,  therefore,  is  the  problem  we  are 
to  solve.  How  shall  we  limit  the  use  of  money 
to  the  exchange  of  such  necessities  of  life  as  we 
by  our  own  industry  have  lawfully  acquired? 
Manifestly  the  first  requisite  thereto  is  that  the 
government  withhold  from  individuals  any  ex- 
clusive or  vested  titles  in  fee  simple  to  any- 
thing whatever  that  God  has  bestowed  upon  all 
men  in  common — although  it  may  and  should 
distribute  equitably  among  all  the  use  thereof 
during  their  natural  lives.  Such  titles  cannot 
be  justly  or  rightfully  bought,  sold,  or  given 
away,  and  should  by  law  be  abolished,  and  their 
acquirement  prohibited  forever.  Moreover,  the 
money,  which  the  government  has  put  out  for 
the  use  and  convenience  of  the  people,  right- 
fully and  justly  reverts  to  the  government  at 
the  death  of  each  individual  possessor  thereof. 
Nor  should  any  individual  be  permitted  to  de- 
vise or  inherit  any  earthly  thing ;  for  whatever 
we  leave  behind  is  properly  the  inheritance  of 
all  men  in  common,  and  we  have  no  right  while 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  345 

we  live  to  say  who  shall  possess  at  our  decease 
what  we  now  only  temporarily  possess.  As  we 
brought  nothing  into  this  world,  we  cannot 
rightfully  inherit  or  possess  anything  here,  ex- 
cept what  God  has  bestowed  upon  us  or  given 
us  the  right  to  acquire.  Indeed  we  have  no 
power  or  right  of  ourselves  to  acquire  and  pos- 
sess wealth,  except  it  be  given  us  of  God  (Deut. 
8 :  17,  18),  and  manifestly,  when  we  have  no 
longer  any  use  of  that  we  have  acquired — it 
being  impossible  to  take  it  with  us  into  the 
next  world — it  justly  reverts  to  God,  and  by 
him  is  placed  in  the  custody  of  the  government 
for  its  equitable  distribution  among  the  people, 
for  whose  protection  and  well-being  the  Nation 
is  responsible.  Nothing  could  be  more  unjust, 
and  really  absurd,  than  that  the  rights  and  pos- 
sessions of  the  living  should  have  been  deter- 
mined and  established  forever  by  those  who  are 
dead. 

Thus,  the  Nation  becoming  the  perpetual  cus- 
todian and  administrator  of  all  estates,  and  the 
people  in  common  the  inheritors  thereof,  there 
will  be  little  use  of  money,  and  every  person 
starting  out  in  life  will  have  equal  opportuni- 
ties with  all  others  of  possession  and  increase 
in  all  riches ;  and  moreover,  there  being  no  ex- 
cuse for  beggary,  dissipation,  or  thievery,  all 


346  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

natural  and  moral  laws  may  and  should  be  en- 
forced with  stern  justice,  and  without  variable- 
ness or  shadow  of  turning.  Nor  is  such  legis- 
lation as  is  requisite  to  secure  to  all  citizens 
such  equal  opportunities  at  all  impracticable ; 
nor  need  it  seriously  disturb  business  or  other 
social  interests;  for  while  excessive  devotion 
to  business  would  in  a  proper  measure  be  re- 
pressed, the  masses  of  the  people  would  be 
stimulated  to  vastly  increased  and  more  useful 
enterprise.  Indeed  this  one  legislative  act  of 
justice  and  charity — the  total  abolition  of  traffic 
in  God's  gifts,  and  of  all  personal  and  exclusive 
inheritances,  devises,  or  gifts  of  anything  what- 
ever, of  public  utility  and  use,  except  what 
comes  to  us  naturally,  and  by  divine  appoint- 
ment, would  give  immediate  relief  from  social 
stress,  and  render  all  social  problems  compara- 
tively easy  of  solution — make  very  straight  and 
smooth  in  the  desert  a  highway  for  our  God 
(Isa.  40 :  3).  All  monopolies,  private  or  corpo- 
rate— being  created  and  controlled  by  the  State, 
and  their  property  ultimately  reverting  thereto 
—would  not  only  cease  to  be  oppressive,  but 
would  become  blessings.  Nor  would  these  be 
any  difficulties  in  the  proper  adjustment  of 
wages,  profits  or  taxation — all  persons  starting 
out  in  life  personally  poor,  but  with  equal  and 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  347 

abundant  opportunities  of  securing  a  livelihood, 
and  really  needing  nothing  more  than  the  State 
enables  them  to  secure  ;  the  State  requiring 
nothing  in  the  way  of  taxation  but  a  small  rent 
or  usury  of  such  property  as  she,  as  the  custo- 
dian of  the  gifts  of  God,  and  of  estates  of  per- 
sons deceased,  holds  for  the  common  good  of 
all  citizens. 

But  while  such  legislation  would,  if  enacted, 
be  entirely  practicable,  and  would  vastly,  im- 
mediately, and  perpetually  increase  the  wealth, 
freedom,  culture,  and  happiness  of  the  com- 
munity, it  will  doubtless  prove  very  difficult  of 
realization — so  blinded  are  we  by  selfishness  to 
our  own  best  interests  that  for  the  reason  the 
truth  is  told  us  we  do  not  believe  it  (John  8 : 
43-45;  2  Cor.  4:  4);  both  the  church  and  the 
world  so  idolatrous  or  besotted  in  worldliness 
that  they  are  no  longer  valiant  in  faith  CJer.  9: 
1-6;  Heb.  11:  32-34),  or  so  drunken  of  the 
"golden  cup  "  (Jer.  51:  7),  and  so  brutish  (Jer. 
51 :  17)  and  cruel  that  they  have  become  in- 
sensible to  pity  (Matt.  18:  33;  Jas.  5:  5,  11), 
and  deaf  to  the  cries  of  oppressed  and  suffering 
humanity  (Ex.  3 :  7  ;  Job  34 :  28 ;  Prov.  21 :  13). 

Many  of  the  poor,  "  for  anguish  of  spirit,  and 
for  cruel  bondage  "  (Ex.  6 :  9),  will  not  listen 
to  their  Deliverer  (Acts  7 :  35)  sent  from  God, 


348  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

who  cometh  out  of  Sion  (Rom.  11 :  26,  38), 
"  the  Church  in  the  wilderness,"  but  make  them 
gods  to  go  before  them — demagogues,  flatterers, 
and  deceivers  (Num.  16 :  1,  12;  Ps.  5:9;  Dan. 
11 :  22 ;  Matt.  24 :  5 ;  2  John  7),  who,  "  while 
they  promise  them  liberty,"  themselves  are  the 
servants  of  corruption  (2  Pet.  2:  19).  Many 
are  so  demoralized  by  servitude  that  they  have 
lost  all  sense  of  manliness,  self-respect,  and  in- 
dependence, and  have  become  base  parasites, 
sycophants,  and  toadies  to  their  oppressors,  in- 
capable of  enduring  hardness  as  good  soldiers 
of  Christ  (2  Tim.  2 :  3),  suffering  themselves 
to  be  driven  in  gangs  as  slaves  or  convicts  to 
their  daily  tasks ;  even  making  a  god  of  the 
belly,  and  when  delivered  from  bondage,  long- 
ing for  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt  (Ex.  16:  3; 
Num.11:  5,  6). 

So  also  many  of  the  rich,  and  of  those  who 
deem  themselves  only  fairly  well  to  do,  wise  in 
their  own  conceits  (Prov.  28 :  11),  in  whose 
hearts  human  sympathies  are  suppressed  by  the 
love  of  money,  the  word  of  God  choked  through 
the  deceitfulness  of  their  riches,  puffed  up  with 
the  pride  of  life,  and  whose  eyes  and  ears  are 
so  blinded  and  dulled  by  the  god  of  this  world 
that  they  cannot  realize  their  own  misery  or  the 
inevitable  destruction  that  awaits  them  in  their 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  349 

selfish  and  cruel  indifference  to  the  sufferings 
of  the  poor — will  vehemently  oppose  and  de- 
nounce as  fanatical  all  really  practical  efforts  to 
apply  the  love  of  God  to  the  redemption  of 
their  fellow-men.  Nay,  even  professing  Chris- 
tians— pledged  in  the  sacred  sacraments  of  the 
Church  to  renounce  the  world,  the  flesh,  and 
the  devil,  and  not  to  follow  or  be  led  by  them, 
yet  forgetful  of  their  mission  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  the  poor,  to  open  every  prison  door,  and  let 
the  oppressed  go  free,  and  like  the  sow  that  is 
washed,  returning  to  their  wallowings  in  the 
mire  (2  Pet.  2 :  22) — are  so  drunken  in  the 
wine  of  worldliness  (Rev.  17 :  3-6)  that  they 
will  brand  as  false  and  heretical  the  vital  prin- 
ciples of  the  gospel  of  charity  they  have  pro- 
fessed to  believe,  and  have  promised  to  prac- 
tice. 

Nevertheless  there  are  very  many,  and  a  rap- 
idly increasing  number,  both  in  Church  and 
State,  who  have  not  bowed  the  knee  to  the 
image  of  Baal  (Rom.  11:  4),  and  who  with 
God's  help  will  overcome  the  world.  And  God 
will  help  them — although  in  his  disciplinary 
providences,  whereby  he  seeks  to  bring  men  to 
repentance,  those  he  loves  are  for  a  time  neces- 
sarily involved,  as  was  the  Christ,  in  sufferings 
— in  the  scourges  and  plagues  he  visits  upon  a 


350       THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

sinful  world  through  the  operation  of  his  nat- 
ural laws  in  which  there  is  no  variableness  or 
shadow  of  turning.  These  scourges  and  plagues 
are  ten  in  number,  corresponding  with  the  Ten 
Commandments  of  the  moral  law — all  classes 
of  evils  being  summarized  therein — and  also 
symbolized  in  the  ten  horns  of  the  beast  the 
Scarlet  Woman  rode  (Rev.  17 :  12,  16),  and  in 
the  ten  plagues  visited  upon  the  Egyptians 
(Ex.  9 :  14).  And  how  plainly  manifest,  and 
yet  how  blinded  our  eyes  thereto  by  the  god  of 
this  world,  that  God  is  now  visiting  upon  us  the 
same  scourges  and  plagues  he  visited  upon  the 
Egyptians  for  our  cruel  social  oppressions, 
whereby  the  poor  and  distressed  are  compelled 
to  make  bricks  without  straw,  and  even  to  bar- 
ter virtue  for  bread.  Moreover,  it  is  especially 
to  be  noted  that,  as  Haman  perished  upon  the 
gallows  he  himself  erected,  so  a  wicked  world, 
through  its  own  selfish  greed,  is  made  to  create 
the  deadly  scourges  and  plagues  with  which  it 
is  afflicted,  in  accordance  with  the  universal  and 
just  laws  whereby  with  what  measure  we  mete 
it  is  measured  to  us  again  (Matt.  7 :  2),  and  we 
are  compelled  to  reap  what  we  sow  (Gal.  6 : 
7,  8).  Thus  through  greed  of  money,  whereby 
every  consideration  of  health  is  recklessly  sac- 
rificed to  what  is  called  business  interests,  our 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  351 

naturally  pure  fountains  and  streams  are  con- 
verted into  filthy  and  bloody  waters,  whereby 
the  fish  that  swim  therein,  and  the  animals  and 
men  that  drink  thereof,  sicken  and  die ;  the  air 
we  are  compelled  to  breathe  befouled,  and 
hordes  of  vermin  generated — lice,  flies,  and 
countless  other  varieties  of  other  moths,  rusts, 
and  thieves,  to  consume,  waste,  and  plunder  our 
fruits  and  harvests,  as  also  the  works  of  art  we 
weave  and  construct;  tormenting  murrains, 
blains,  and  malignant  and  deadly  diseases  and 
pestilences  evolved  and  developed  of  adulter- 
ated and  poisoned  foods  and  drinks,  and  the 
unnatural  conditions  in  which  we  are  compelled 
to  live ;  frightful  and  destructive  floods,  earth- 
quakes, tornadoes,  and  tempests  of  fire  and  hail 
developed  of  the  just  wrath  of  God — all  of 
which  naturally  result  from  our  transgressions 
of  natural  laws,  and  are  Nature's  efforts  to 
purify  itself  from  our  pollutions  thereof. 

But  as  leprosy  and  all  other  diseases  other- 
wise incurable  were  healed  by  the  touch  of 
Christ's  finger,  and  even  the  tempests  stilled  at 
his  command  (Matt.  8:2;  Mark  4:  39),  so 
may  all  curses  and  plagues  with  which  the  hu- 
man race  is  afflicted  be  removed  by  contact  of 
the  true  Church  with  the  world.  And  it  can 
touch  the  world  if  we  cast  out  the  motes  of 


852  THE  GATE  CALLED  BEAUTIFUL. 

selfishness  and  cupidity  from  our  own  eyes, 
whereby  we  are  enabled  to  see  clearly  to  cast 
out  the  motes  from  the  eyes  of  our  brother 
men.  If  we  purify  ourselves  from  our  worldli- 
ness,  and  fulfill  our  mission  to  the  world,  we 
can  purify  the  world,  and  heal  all  its  infirmities 
— bind  up  all  that  are  bruised,  and  open  every 
prison  door. 

Or  if  the  world  itself,  which  Satan  hath 
bound,  lo!  these  centuries  of  cruel  bondage 
(Luke  13:  16),  would  but  touch  in  faith  the 
living  Church,  the  hem  of  Christ's  garment 
(Mark  5 :  27-29 ;  Rom.  8 :  21-26),  every  foun- 
tain of  tears  and  blood  would  be  dried,  and  it 
would  feel  in  its  body  that  it  was  healed  of 
every  plague.  "  O  earth,  earth,  earth,  hear 
the  word  of  the  Lord  "  ( Jer.  22 :  29),  and  thou 
shalt  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make 
thee  free  (John  8:  32); — break  every  yoke, 
burst  every  bond,  and  open  every  iron  gate  of 
oppression  (John  30:  8;  Acts  12:  7,  10).  Let 
all  or  any  brotherhoods,  confederations  of  labor 
or  capital,  political  parties,  or  socialistic  orgam 
izations — most  or  all  of  which  are  now  prac- 
tically oppressive  monopolies,  each  selfishly 
striving  to  promote  its  own  exclusive  interests 
by  increased  prerogatives,  immunities,  impuni- 
ties, wages,  or  profits,  regardless  of  the  rights 


APPLIED   CHARITY.  353 

or  interests  of  others, — adopt,  and  incorporate 
into  their  constitutions,  declarations  of  princi- 
ples, or  articles  of  confederation,  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  Divine  Law  and  Love, 
they  will,  if  true  to  their  avowed  principles, 
become  one  in  spirit  and  purpose,  obtain  con- 
trol of  the  Government,  and  secure  the  just 
rights  and  liberties  of  all  citizens ;  for  as  the 
people  are,  so  inevitably  will  be  the  Govern- 
ment, so  far  as  they  cherish  the  true  principles 
of  religion,  and  understand  how  such  principles 
may  be  applied  to  the  practical  realization  of 
liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity.  Nor  can  any 
person  who  rightly  interprets  the  signs  of  the 
times  seriously  question  that  the  fullness  of 
time  has  come  for  such  practical  realization  of 
the  principles  and  promises  of  the  gospel  of  the 
Christ.  We  are  certainly  on  the  threshold  of 
a  new  dispensation  of  the  gospel — a  great  re- 
naissance of  natural,  moral,  and  spiritual  cul- 
ture. The  Christ  in  spirit  is  coming  again — 
his  Kingdom  nearer  at  hand  than  when  we  be- 
lieved (Rom.  13:  11,  12).  It  is  high  time  to 
awake  out  of  sleep.  The  night  is  far  spent,  the 
day  is  at  hand.  Let  us  cast  off  the  works  of 
darkness,  and  put  on  the  armor  of  light,  that 
we  may  wrestle  against  principalities  and 
powers,  against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high 


354  THE   GATE   CALLED   BEAUTIFUL. 

places  both  in  Church  and  State.  The  congre- 
gations of  the  Church  are  opening  their  eyes  to 
the  discernment  of  the  fundamental  truths  and 
principles  upon  which  liberty,  equality,  and 
fraternity  are  founded,  and  our  social  salvation 
realized — casting  away  sectarian  dogmas  and 
ordinances  of  man's  appointment,  whereby  we 
are  prevented  from  becoming  One  in  the 
Brotherhood  of  Christ,  and  sore  hindered  in 
running  the  race  set  before  us ;  they  are  rising 
above  old  superstitions,  bigotries,  and  gross 
literalisms  in  interpretations  of  the  word  of 
God,  whereby  we  have  been  made  blind  and 
dead  to  the  spirit  thereof  (John  6:  63;  8:  46, 
47;  1  Cor.  2:  14;  2  Cor.  3:  6).  The  skies  of 
our  religious,  social,  and  political  lives  are  won- 
drously  brightening.  Wise  men,  hitherto 
blinded  by  our  superstitions  to  the  light  shin- 
ing in  darkness,  and  standing  aloof  from  the 
Church,  are  now  again  following  the  guidance 
of  its  bright  and  morning  Star  (Matt.  2:  2; 
Rev.  22:  16).  The  New  Jerusalem,  the  golden 
city  of  peace  and  brotherhood,  the  living 
Church  of  the  living  God  (1  Tim.  3:  15;  Rev. 
21:  10),  is  visibly  descending  from  heaven. 
"  And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of  heaven,  say- 
ing, Behold  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men, 
and  he  shall  dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be 


APPLIED   CHAEITY.  355 

his  people,  and  God  himself  shall  be  with  them, 
and  be  their  God.  And  God  shall  wipe  away 
all  tears  from  their  eyes  ;  and  there  shall  be  no 
more  death,  neither  sorrow  nor  crying.  Neither 
shall  there  be  any  more  pain,  for  the  former 
things  have  passed  away."  Arid  the  Spirit  of 
Truth,  and  of  the  true  and  living  Church  (1 
John  16:  13;  Eph.5:  33;  Rev.  21:  2,  9),  say, 
Come.  And  let  him  that  heareth  the  voices 
thereof  (Ezek.  43:  2;  Matt.  11:  28;  John  18: 
37)  say,  Come.  And  let  him  who  is  athirst  for 
a  purer  fountain  of  life,  or  ahungered  for  a 
larger  liberty  and  a  nobler  manhood  (Isa.  55 : 
1,2;  John  4:  14;  6:  27,35,58;  8:  36),  say, 
Come.  And  let  all  who  would  love  God  and 
their  brother  men,  and  be  loved  of  them  (Matt. 
22:  37-40:  1  Cor.  2:  9;  1  John  4:  20,  21), 
say,  Come — enter  in  at  the  Beautiful  Gate, 
"  walking,  leaping,  and  praising  God." 


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